


The Corner Shop

by allonsysilvertongue



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, grocery store au, modern day hayffie au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 20:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 63,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6871429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allonsysilvertongue/pseuds/allonsysilvertongue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moving into this town, Effie Trinket was seeking some peace and quiet until one Friday when Haymitch Abernathy turned up at her doorstop. A Hayffie AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was taking a break from studying from exams yesterday when this au came to me. It's meant to be a one-shot but as I was editing, i began to have a plot for this story.

** The Corner Shop **

** Chapter 1 **

In this side of the country, changes were slow to come by. Things were constant. If someone had opened a shop in the corner street, it would still be there five, maybe ten years from now. The billboard would rust before a new advertisement took its place.

Where she was from, changes happened in a blink of an eye. Nothing was permanent. Shops changed owners, fashions gave way to another. Where she was from, it was never quiet. Cars and trains sped past, city lights never dimmed and parties went on till late night.

Here, it was different. She could hear the chatter of the school children when school let out, she could hear the birds chirping in the trees, the wind howling through the air and a single car driving down the street.

It was her therapist who found this town and suggested it to her. After weeks of mulling over it, she finally packed up her bags and leave, seeking temporary solace from her life. She found herself liking this town. It was good for her. After her ordeal, the quiet suited her. It calmed her mind.

Effie hummed quietly to herself as she dried her dishes. Outside, she could hear the truck pulling in the driveway. Wiping her hands clean, she hung the towel and went out to the hallway just as the doorbell rang.

With a smile, she opened the door only for it to falter.

“Oh,” she said, startled.

She was expecting Peeta Mellark with her weekly delivery of groceries. Her eyes drifted to the calendar hanging by one of the walls. It was Friday, delivery day, which did not explain this stranger in front of her door.

“Lady,” the man grumbled, clearly annoyed that she was blocking his path. “I’m carrying a shitload of things. You’re gonna let me in or what? I can always just leave this here.”

Effie blinked in surprise.

This man was rude, she frowned. She had met her neighbours and while they were wary of new comers, they were polite to her. Soon, after a few weeks, they began to warm up to her. It prompted Effie to host a small dinner and invite them to their house. Greasy Sae who wasn’t her neighbor but someone she knew from when she had bought a take-out from her small restaurant had fondly declared her house peculiar – the paintings, the décor.

She stepped aside.

“The kitchen is down this hallway to the right,” she directed to the man who wasn’t Peeta.

He grunted an acknowledgement under his breath and made his way to the kitchen where he proceeded to dump the brown paper bags on the table. A lemon rolled out and he stooped to pick it up before stuffing it back in the bag.

Propping his hip on the kitchen counter, the man crossed his arms and waited. There was something about him that annoyed her. The nonchalant way he carried himself, his previous rudeness, the ease in which he was leaning against the counter as if her kitchen was his and the way his eyes tracked her as if he was learning all there was to learn about her.

Effie would not behave that way in someone’s house and the fact that she was not given the same kind of thoughtfulness was grating on her nerves. Peeta had always been polite. He would sit when Effie invited him to, he would thank her when she paid him for the delivery and before leaving, he would always offer to help her put away her groceries which this man did not.

 “Peeta usually help me to put my things away especially in the high shelves of – “

“Well,” he smacked his lips, “I ain’t Peeta.”

“That much is clear. Your manners are lacking, if you don’t mind me saying. Peeta is a very polite young man.”

His eyes trailed over her, taking in everything he saw and she tilted her chin up in defiance. He smirked. She frowned. Most men would usually take a step back, afraid of ruffling her feathers and ruining their chance but not him.

“The boy never said you’re a looker. You’re always dressing like that in your own house or … were you tryin’ to impress ‘cause I gotta tell you not to bother. Peeta’s got his eyes on someone else.”

Effie gasped. She had never heard such brazen accusation thrown at her before.

“Who are you?” she demanded crossly.

“Name’s Haymitch,” he answered still with that smug half-grin on his face.

“You must be new to this job,” she folded her arms across her chest. She really did not want to come off as pompous or arrogant but this man was too much. “Your behavior is appalling and _I_ am a paying customer. I can very easily report your behavior today to your manager.”

“What the hell did I do, sweetheart?”

“Do not call me that,” she hissed. “How about you ogling me for starters, or making highly inappropriate insinuation about my intentions with your colleague.”

Haymitch raised both hands up, palm outwards but he was chuckling which did nothing to calm her.

“Can’t a man look? I mean nothin’ by it. No need to be so fuckin’ defensive. Turn around.”

“What?”

“Turn around,” he said, making a circular motion with his index finger. “Gotta check if you got a pole up your ass or if this is just how you are.”

Effie sputtered. “I will file a complaint, you can be sure that I will. Your superiors will hear about this.”

“You do that, sweetheart.”

“You are arrogant. Do you think that just because I am new in this town that I will not report you?”

“I don’t doubt it. But like I said - if you want to report me then go ahead. Tell you what – filing a complain? Takes time, yeah? Go right ahead and call it in. You want my _manager’s_ number?”

“No need. I have your company’s card.”

She rifled through her purse to find the card Peeta had given her the first time he delivered her groceries. It had the number of the store and the owner reflected on it. She dialed the number, fuming. Her eyes flitted at him to gauge his reaction, her fingers drumming against the surface of the table top.

He was still smirking and it only infuriated her even more.

“I’m calling,” she said, her voice a challenge. “You can apologise now and I will end this call. There is no need for your job to be -”

Somewhere in the house, a phone was ringing. Haymitch fished the phone out of his jeans’ back pocket and slid the green icon to the right.

“You were sayin’?” he raised an eyebrow, speaking into the phone pressed against his ear.

The look of utter shock on her face, she figured, must be amusing to him because she was certain he was fighting off a laugh.

“That was your number on the card.”

He rolled his eyes at her for stating the obvious.

“Yeah, and that’s my name on the card,” he finger tapped on the business card. “Should have paid attention when I said my name’s Haymitch, yeah? You wouldn’t have made this _embarrassin’_ mistake.”

“This is your shop?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “Well, got your number now, sweetheart.”

He waved his phone in front of her face and winked.

“And, pray tell, what are you going do with it? Because if you -”

“Nothing,” he said simply. “I know _not_ to pick up when I see this number callin’. Saves me the trouble. Effie, right?”

“Miss Trinket,” she pursed her lips.

He chuckled. “I think I’ll save your number as ‘sweetheart’.”

“I am not your – “

“Now, if you can pay me, I’ll be on my way. There are other places I gotta go.”

She pulled the bills from her purse in irritation and handed it to him. He pocketed the money in his jacket pocket. Effie saw the silver flash of a hip flask in one of the inner pockets. That would explain the faint smell of whiskey the clung to his clothes.

“You shouldn’t be drinking and driving.”

His eyes flashed.

“I’m saving this for later,” he patted his jacket pocket.

She moved out of the kitchen towards the front door to show him out and she could feel his eyes lingering on her back, and later that night as she lay in bed, she would chide herself for being foolish, but she added a little sway to her hips.

“See you next Friday,” he told her at the door.

“Won’t Peeta be doing the delivery? I thought you being here is a one-time occasion. Is he alright?”

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” he asked. “Somethin’ wrong with me?”

She stared at him, dark grey eyes boring into hers, at the corner of his lips curling upwards at the thought that he had her again, and at the fingers still curled on the handle of her door knob and the veins running up his hand.

She narrowed her eyes.

“I would prefer Peeta.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

**Chapter 2**

He watched her from his rearview mirror as he pulled out from the driveway.

The woman – _Effie,_ he told himself – was standing by the window next to the front door with a slight crease of her brows and her arms crossed as she watched him leave, as if she didn't trust him not to hang around and tarnish the new paint job on the outer wall.

Her two story house was in the better part of the town on Capitol Street. The outer walls had been painted a light brown with dark brown roof tiling. There were bay windows to the right and left of the front double doors. The lawn was neatly mown and shrubberies lined the steps on either side as it led up to the front door.

Her house, in his opinion, was impeccably neat so much so that _he_ felt out of place with his frayed jeans and wrinkled checkered shirt. Everything in her house had a designated place. The paintings on the wall were perfectly align, the cushions neatly placed on the sofa and the plates in the kitchen were arranged according to size.

 _Miss Perfect,_ he snorted and she seemed the kind that needed a bit of rattling for the sake of it.

He supposed if he were to ever invite her to his house, she might just bolt out of there from the mess and the disorganization. It would give her a headache. That or maybe, she would insist on cleaning his place up.

It was only at the intersection that he realized where his thoughts had taken him. It jolted him to have imagined a woman in his house. He couldn't remember the last time.

Haymitch turned the corner and parked the truck on the road side in front of his shop. He tossed the keys near the counter and deposited the money he had collected from his round of deliveries into the cash register.

"You're back," Peeta stated as he came out from the back of the shop with his hands covered in flour. "So… What do you think of her?"

It had been Peeta's idea to have a selection of freshly baked goods. Haymitch had shrugged and let him run that small section in his shop, and within a few weeks, it had managed to attract customers.

"Why so interested?"

"Just. Jo's got an opinion of her and so does nearly every other person in this town who crossed paths with her. We don't get many new comers."

"She's a bitch," the young woman muttered.

"Arrogant," Haymitch opined. "Have you seen her house? Bet she'll hang you by the balls if you spill a drink on her expensive carpet or dirty her fuckin' cushions."

His comment made Johanna snickered. Peeta was frowning which wasn't surprising. He always had something nice to say about people. That was his gift.

"Looks like a real pain in the ass that one," Haymitch went on. "Guess that's why she lives alone…Right?"

At that, Johanna and Peeta exchanged a glance.

"Are you trying to pry for information?" Johanna raised an eyebrow.

"Never seen anyone while I was there," Peeta said.

"Yeah, that's 'cause no one can deal with her from the looks of it," Haymitch chuckled. "She wanted to have me reported for misconduct. Can you fuckin' believe that?"

Haymitch drew out his hip flask and took a sip.

"Report you… Did you do something?" Peeta asked, standing by the doorway that separated the back shop from the front as he waited for an answer.

Haymitch threw him a look at the tone of his voice.

Sometimes, it certainly seemed as if Peeta was the boss, as if _he_ owned this store. He was a responsible young man and he had taken it upon himself to keep them in line.

It wasn't too far from the truth.

Abernathy's Grocery was barely holding on when Johanna, a girl from the street, came in. There were days when the shop was closed because he was too drunk or too hangover to come in and keep it running. Goods went out of stock and were not replaced.

With Johanna around, he made an effort to keep the shop open to give her something to do and occupy her time so the morphling would be the last thing on her mind. He gave her a room on the upstairs floor of the shop so she won't resort to sleeping on the streets. He wanted to break the destructive cycle. He had found her in the middle of the night stealing junk food, shaking, weak and pale but he had underestimated her and found himself with an axe to his throat. But as soon as he recovered from the shock, he had the girl pinned to the floor.

They had made a deal then. He wouldn't call the police and she would work in his shop until she had sufficiently paid back all the items she had stolen over the past few weeks. According to her, chips, package cookies and canned food were her favourite to steal. They were nonperishable. The sixth week she was there, Haymitch paid her wages.

It was a year or so later when Peeta came to him. His mother had forgotten to turn off the oven and as a consequence, he had lost his family to the fire that consumed the bakery. He barely made it out and would have perished if someone had not pulled him out. When he had healed and his prosthetic fitted, he offered to work for Haymitch. He would bake, he said, and Haymitch could sell them.

The shop was kept running for the two kids. The shop had been for his benefit but he didn't care about himself. With them around… _He_ was their source of income and as long as this shop was functioning, those two kids would have a shot.

Mostly, it was Peeta who kept them afloat. He would open the shop in the morning. He would check on Haymitch when he still didn't turn up after a certain time and he insisted on building a positive relationship with their customers which would explain the reason Peeta was questioning him right now.

"Haymitch? Did you say something rude to her?"

"I did nothing," he growled irritably.

Peeta looked skeptical but he let it go. "She wasn't expecting you. That must be it. I should have called ahead to let her know. You must have caught her by surprise."

"Yeah, see, customers don't get to choose who does the delivery. That's up to me, ain't it? Jo, you should go next week, spook her up a bit."

"Don't," Peeta warned. "She's our customer and you shouldn't irritate her. You'll drive her away."

"How long has she been here, already?" Haymitch asked.

"A little over a month, I think. She's very new. I don't think she's seen all that this town's got to offer."

"She ever been to the store?"

"Of course she has. That was how she found out that we deliver right to people's doorstep. You weren't here when she came. She was here in the morning both times and you're never around in the morning," Peeta looked at him pointedly.

"Right," he muttered. "How are we doing on the stocks?"

"Peeta's been giving away stuffs again," Johanna answered from the back of the shop.

Peeta shrugged. "Only those nearing its expiry date that we haven't manage to sell off. Better to give it away."

Haymitch nodded. He didn't mind it.

"I'm not good with numbers," Johanna went on, " _but_ even I can tell we're running a bit low on profit. You need to collect those debts. You're running a business. This ain't Red Cross. You can't let people walk in here to buy shit only to put it on the fucking tab. I mean, look here, the Hawthornes owe us at least a hundred dollars in groceries."

"Hazelle's got kids, she needs to feed them," Haymitch answered. "If we can help out we help out."

"Her eldest started working in the mine, couldn't he at least start paying us a little each time. You need me to talk to him about it or something? Cause I notice you're kinda sweet on Hazelle," Johanna accused.

Peeta grinned. "Oh, interesting. You talking to Gale Hawthorne and Haymitch being sweet on the mother."

Sometimes, he hated these two kids.

"I'm just saying. I got nothing to say if you're sleeping with her and you're letting her free past to take things from this place. Your shop, not mine," Johanna added nonchalantly.

"Nothing's going on," Haymitch snapped even though he realized if that was true, he didn't need to explain himself to Johanna or Peeta. "I'll talk to her 'bout the money. Anything else? 'Cause if there aren't any I'm gonna leave. Friday night and everything."

"What's your hurry? It's not like you go out and have fun anyway," Johanna snickered.

His idea of fun was to head home and drink. Today especially, the need to drink was overwhelming. He wanted to stop thinking about a pair of bright blue eyes and hips swaying in front of him. He wanted to stop thinking about a certain person' number in his phone and how easy it would be to just… text her.

"You should consider what I've been saying all these while. Get a bookkeeper, someone to balance our books. Someone good with finances and money," Peeta told him seriously. "There's only so much Johanna and I can do."

Over the next few days, he tried to figure out and settle the books but he decided that the store wasn't doing too badly so he casted it aside. The days were slow and he spent his time calling up suppliers to restock the store.

When Chaff started talking about the woman he was chasing after in his own town not far from here, Haymitch listened without truly registering the conversation.

"So you've got someone new in your town, yeah?" he asked, breathing into the receiver. "Never heard you talking about her."

"How'd you know?"

"That boy of yours," Chaff said. "Told me about it when he called last month about organic potatoes and tomatoes."

"Organic potatoes?"

"Yeah, said that lady was askin' for it."

"Organic potatoes?"

"Are you hard on hearing or something?" Chaff snapped. "Yeah, Mitch, that new lady in your town wanted _organic_ foods. _I_ supply the damn greens and fruits in your shop so Peeta called _me_ to ask if I've got anything like that."

"Right. Do you?"

"Sure I do but it ain't cheap. That boy said I'm selling it for too high a price. You taught him how to haggle for a price, huh?"

"Part of the job," Haymitch muttered distractedly. "What else did she ask for?"

Chaff laughed. "She's your customer, right? Not mine. You should know. So, you ever met her? She sounds like a handful, sounds picky. First time I'm being asked for organic foods from your town. It's always people up in the city."

"Yeah, I met her few days back."

"So?"

"What? What do you want to know?"

"What she's like? Come on, you know what I want to know."

"She's hot."

Chaff chuckled. "She your kind, buddy?"

"No," Haymitch answered far too quickly, "too stuck up."

Now that they were talking about her, his mind drifted back to that Friday at her house. He thought of the way she had raised her nose at him when she caught him eyeing her, the annoyed look she shot him when he didn't back down and the way she swayed her hips. He was sure she did it on purpose.

She was a minx.

When the next Friday came, Haymitch loaded his red pickup truck and set out to deliver the groceries. He made sure her house was last on the roster. He wouldn't need to rush off to the next house and …. He wasn't sure what he was hoping but there was a building anticipation as the list began to thin out.

He reached Capitol Street and drove straight to the brown house at the end. He pressed the doorbell and waited.

"Sweetheart," he greeted her with a smirk when she opened the door.

"Haymitch," she returned his greeting civilly.

"Say, sweetheart, I'm almost disappointed you didn't call to complain 'bout anything," he commented as he walked towards her kitchen. "Someone like you, there must be something you ain't happy about. Everything I deliver up to your satisfaction?"

She narrowed her eyes. "They were satisfactory."

"Good but you know if there's anything you should call."

"I will keep that in mind."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I just want to have the satisfaction of ignoring your call."

"You are – You are unbelievable."

He chuckled.

"What happened to Peeta?"

"You really are obsessed with him. I'll tell him you're a fan," he deadpanned.

"Is he alright, though?"

It was the genuine concern in her voice that made him look up and made him gave her an answer.

"He's at the store. His leg's not good so he's minding the counter and doing the baking."

"Are you doing the deliveries from now on, then?"

"Is that hope I hear in your voice?" he teased.

She glared.

"Yeah, I'm doing the deliveries," he pushed his sleeve up his right elbow when it slid down as he bent forward to carefully place the bag down.

He felt her eyes on him, watching his every move.

"Don't stare, sweetheart. Don't worry I ain't gonna break your eggs. There are other ways to break an egg, if you know what I mean?"

He raised his head just in time to see a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"That was terrible." She shook her head at him but there was a hint of a smile. "It's a terrible pick-up line."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Look, I don't mean that. I don't want to be breaking any egg but I'm not opposed to the act of – "

"I've never seen you before," she interrupted him before he could finish that sentence and embarrassed them both. "It's a small town and I've never seen you around. Not at your shop. Not when I went out for coffee at the coffeeshop or to Sae's restaurant or the pub nearby."

He shrugged. "Not much for socializing. Don't go out often."

"That would explain the horrid pick-up line. You need practice."

He should feel offended but somehow, that made him laugh. It surprised him to laugh this easily at something she said.

"I've seen you."

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Saw you runnin' past my house. Joggin' or some shit way too early in the morning. No one does that here. You're the only crazy one."

"It keeps me healthy."

"Sure," he plucked the receipt from one of the brown paper bags, letting his eyes scan over it. "Vegetables, beans, more vegetables, fruits, lots of avocado and strawberries. We had to order in avocado 'cause of you. If it ain't for the chicken and meat and seafood in there, oh and chocolate, I'd thought you're on some weird diet or somethin'. At least you've got wine. You drink this alone?"

"It really is none of your business."

"You one of those people crazy 'bout health or something?"

"I plan to lead a long healthy life."

He snorted. "We all die someday."

"You're a cynical man, aren't you?"

"And you look like you've had an easy life. Privilege background, daddy's girl, the centre of everyone's attention – feel free to stop me when I'm wrong – bet you got rich boyfriend somewhere in the city. No reason at all to be cynical. Let me guess… He cheated on you and you're here to 'find' yourself?"

"He's gone missing," she pursed her lips. "I strongly advise you to mind your own business."

He blinked.

"Missing?"

She let out a breath. "Here – your payment."

He accepted the money and bid her goodbye. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had pushed too far but this only piqued his curiousity about her even more.

He had wondered once the reason for the weekly delivery of groceries when she was the only one living in the house. She couldn't possibly be going through her food _that_ quickly.

Haymitch wasn't complaining. She was giving him business after all. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that he would see her again next Friday.

It was just business.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So tell me what you think? What will happen next?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very long chapter ahead!

 

**Chapter 3**

Back in the city where she was from, Effie would run with a pair of earpiece in her ears and music to keep her company. Sometimes, she would run on the treadmill in the gym. It was static which bore her. Outdoors at the park, the sound of vehicles rushing past and people talking in loud voices grated on her nerves. The music helped tremendously. She could run and ignore everything else.

Not here though. She ran without the earpiece embedded in her ears. She listened to the rustle of the leaves and the sound of water from the stream as she passed by it. She could smell the sweet fragrance from the pine trees. There was so much nature to be had in this town and running allowed her to enjoy it.

On her route that morning, Effie was more vigilant of her surrounding than she normally was. As she jogged passed the houses on the streets, she couldn't help but wonder which one of these houses belonged to him.

She mentally eliminated the houses along Capitol Street. He truly didn't seem the sort to have a house with white picket fence or a bed of roses on the front lawn.

 _Unless his wife insisted,_ a voice whispered. Except... She recalled the absent of ring on his finger.

The way her thoughts kept drifting back to him was beginning to annoy her. She had met several other men in this town. Brutus, for example, was polite but reserve and she chalked it up to her being an outsider. Gloss was far too handsome and excessively charming, it made _her_ wary. None of them made her thoughts wander the way Haymitch did, and all that man had done was deliver her groceries and aggravate her.

"Good morning, Ms. Trinket!"

"Good morning, Posy," Effie waved to the girl perched on her mother's hip. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

Effie searched her memories for the woman's name but she had only been here less than two months. She could not truly remember the name of every single one of the residents and like Haymitch had only recently proved she had not met _everyone_. Besides, it was not every day that she crossed paths with this woman but Effie had seen her walking with Sae, carrying a basket of laundry and Rory, her son, came over once to help her mow the lawn.

She smiled at the woman who gave her a polite nod of acknowledgment.

"She just moved here, momma," Effie heard Posy saying as they passed her by. "She lives in the pretty houses on the rich people street. I met her when Greasy Sae brought me to her house."

 _Rich people street_... Was that what Haymitch meant when he said she was a daddy's girl with privilege background? There was almost something bitter in the tone of his voice as if a part of him resented people like her.

Refusing to mull on the social status of this town, Effie kept on running. She busied herself trying to remember the woman's name.

"Hazelle! That's it," she exclaimed to herself, pleased to have remember it.

The horn blared loudly and Effie screamed in fright. She clutched her chest, staring wildly around her.

A by now familiar red pickup truck was reversing out of a driveway. It eventually came to a stop in front of her. The driver rolled down the window.

"You have a death wish?" Haymitch peered up at her.

She scowled. "You should drive carefully."

"I told you all that running will kill you."

" _You_ should drive with proper care."

"What are you doing at this part of the town?"

"How is it that for the entire month that I was here, I've never had the unfortunate luck of meeting you but the moment that I do, from that day you turned up at my doorstep, I see you everywhere?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Everywhere?" His brows crinkled. "Even in your dreams? My, sweetheart, not sure how I feel 'bout _that_. Sexy dreams, yeah? 'cause if they aren't, then why bother."

"Oh my goodness," she sputtered.

"You know what I'm thinkin'? I think that maybe you like what you saw and you've been tailin' me," he shrugged. " _Accidentally_ bumpin' me into all that."

"Bumping into you? _You_ nearly ran _me_ over!"

"Nah," he waved a careless hand at her. "You were the one doing the running. What the fuck are you wearing?"

She looked down on herself. She was wearing her running tights with matching running shoes. It showed off the shape of her long legs – legs that she was proud of thanks to all the leg days she spent at the gym – and she could feel his indiscrete staring.

"What I always wear when I run," she stated. "Tights."

"Temptress," was what _she_ thought she heard him mutter but she couldn't be sure.

Her eyes flitted to the old house Haymitch had just driven out from. She supposed this answered her question. This was his house and this street was where he lived. She took note of the street – _Twelve._ Effie assumed that whoever was in charge had not bother to give proper names to the poorer part of the town and had simply assigned numbers to the street.

She was right about him. There was no white picket fence, nothing glamourous. It wasn't even the sort of house that would have caught her attention in the first place. The paint was peeling on the outside and the metal fence that went up to slightly above her waist had rusted in some places. She could almost hear the creak if she were to push the fence gate open. The grass had grown passed the ankle and there were weeds that needed to be pulled put. His lawn was in dire need of a major trimming.

She must have been staring for too long because he started chuckling.

"If you want me to invite you in, all you have to do is ask."

"I am not the sort of woman to follow a stranger home."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Good thing I ain't a stranger. Can't be a stranger when I've been to your house twice now."

"To deliver my groceries. That's your job."

"Exactly. I'm your neighbourhood delivery guy. You know me - not a stranger. So, wanna come in?"

"Don't you have a shop to tend to?" She asked tersely.

"You sure are in a habit of answering questions with questions. Conversation with you is gonna be really interesting for people stupid enough to try actually talk to you," he scoffed.

"Like you just did?"

"Touche, sweetheart.

He gave her a mock salute, rolled up his window and drove away. He left her standing there in the middle of the street. The least he could do was offer her a ride home but she decided that sort of polite behaviour was lost on him.

Effie started off again, jogging back in the direction of Capitol Street at a languid pace. That had certainly been an interesting morning but when she reached home, it was still too early and the quiet reminded her just how empty the house was.

The only downside to this town was the fact that she had far too much time on her hand. She wasn't use to this. She constantly needed to do something and for the first month that she was here, it was bearable but in the long term, she knew being idle would drive her insane.

Humming to herself, she turned on the television to fill the house with noise and went to the kitchen where she pulled out an old recipe book she found on sale at the bookstore on the third day she was in this town.

Methodically, she began arranging the ingredients on the kitchen counter.

Since not having a job meant she had time, her therapist insisted that she should pick up a hobby. She had intended to pick up reading which was how she chanced upon the recipe book. Cooking, she decided, kept her occupy more than reading would which was what Dr. Aurelius had wanted instead of spending her time obsessing about returning to modelling.

The decline – or rather the fall – of her career ate away at her. It hurt to be replaced by younger models and it made her slightly insecure. It was only made worst by Seneca Crane.

The job Caesar had offered her after the debacle did not last long. She could hear the quiet mock and laughter behind her back. A Victoria Secret's Angel fall from grace had captured the interest of many and to be working behind the scenes for a famous talk host made her a laughing stock.

Her therapist had asked if she was imagining it all; if the stress was making her anxious and paranoid, and Effie resented the implication that she was delusional. She knew what she saw. She knew what she _heard._

"There is no need for this, Effie," her sister had pursed her lips. Eirene was worried sick and was at the end of her tether with her. "You are worth better than this. You can do whatever you set your mind to. And forget _him._ He's ruined you. Find someone else, find something else. Fame is not everything. Mother was wrong. It isn't everything. Find a _good_ man and settle."

"I am meant to do great things with my life, Eirene. I do not want to merely _settle_. The very idea… I want something better. I want to feel …. Butterflies in my stomach, to be courted and worship. I want – I deserve that."

"Listen to yourself," her sister had snapped. "Please, Effie, I implore you to be reasonable. Life is not fairy tale. You know that very well."

She did, of course. If it was, her life would not be the way it was right then.

But love… She thought it would actually make her feel alive, that it would light a fire in her. There had to be a man out there whose touch would make her skin tingled and to just settle for a man nice enough to treat her well… It sounded too much like resigning herself to whatever it was to come when all she wanted was for someone who would truly love her, _all_ of her.

She sighed at the memories and forced herself to focus on what was in front of her. Using a small bowl as a paper weight, Effie began following the instructions.

"A pinch of paprika," she muttered.

Effie enjoyed cooking, a fact that surprised her. She never thought she had it in her. When she spoke to Eirene about it over the phone, her sister had teased her about burning the house down but that had not happened. _Yet._

She had burnt a dish on a few occasions, left them too long that the bottom blackened. She added too much salt or not enough salt. Her chicken was sometimes dry, her fish a little flaky and her scallops rubbery but all things considered, she truly wasn't _that_ bad. She wasn't a Michelin star chef after all but she could follow the instructions in a recipe so to her that was a first step.

It was what came after that she didn't find enjoyable. She made this meal - a meal that she thought looked aesthetically pleasing enough for her to proudly post it on social media which of course, she never did - but there was no one to share the food with.

The loneliness felt even more jarring to her when she had to have the meal she prepared by herself. On most times, she would start packing them in containers to give out.

She would give it to Rory Hawthorne when he came to mow her lawn. She would give it to Peeta back when he still delivered her groceries with an extra for Johanna. She supposed there was no reason to stop now. She could still do the same and Haymitch could bring it back to the store for them.

Or she could go over to personally give them the food.

She had nothing else to do in any case.

Effie packed the grilled lemon chicken carefully and placed them in the basket of her bicycle. She loved that bicycle. The crossbars were blue and a white rattan basket was mounted on the front of the handle bar. Her sister had a good laugh at the thought of her commuting with a bicycle.

"Don't change _too_ much, little sister. I'm afraid when you do return to the city, I will not recognise you," Eirene had teased.

Effie cycled towards the centre of the town where all the stores and shops, and a small library was located. By the time she arrived, the wind had created a mess out of her hair so she gathered and knotted her hair into a bun. She would never have gone out with her hair in a bun and with only the basic make-up to adorn her face if she was still in the city. There were too many eyes on her and too many cameras, but here, nobody cared that much. Nobody knew her or her past. She was free to be herself.

She leaned the bicycle against the wall and stopped at the front door.

There was a sign for an available position. That must be new because it wasn't there when she came a few weeks ago.

She pushed the door open. A bell tinkled to announce her presence. Effie spotted Johanna arranging something by one of the shelves. The young woman glanced up, saw her and went back to doing her work.

At that moment, Haymitch came from the back of the shop, carrying a crate of fresh tomatoes. He saw her and stopped in his track.

"Knew you were tailing me," he declared triumphantly.

She would have a good comeback if she wasn't so distracted. He had shed his usual plaid button down shirt and was wearing a grey short sleeve cotton shirt that was stretched across his chest. The back of his shirt was clinging to his skin from the perspiration.

There was a slight pouch on his stomach but it didn't seem to bother her. She cast an appreciative glance to the way the muscles on his biceps bunched and flexed as he moved and shifted the crate.

The silver hip flask was pocketed in his jeans, and it seemed to Effie that he never parted far from it.

Haymitch stretched to take something from the top shelf which caused his shirt to ride up and Effie saw the flash of skin on his hip. He turned slightly and from the angle Effie caught a glimpse of the mottled flesh on the side of his stomach.

"Cat got your tongue, sweetheart? See somethin' you like in this store?" he drawled, turning around to look at her.

She blinked, partially mortified when she realised belatedly that she was checking _him_ out. The scar made her curious but that was hardly something she could ask him about.

"Effie!"

She released a breath, grateful for that distraction. Peeta's presence pulled her attention away from Haymitch.

"How are you?" Effie asked, moving towards the counter. "Haymitch told me your leg was giving you trouble."

"Oh, no. It's nothing," Peeta hurried to assure her. His eyes darted to Haymitch as he walked towards the counter where Effie was standing, the prosthetic making a thumping sound against the wooden floor. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"That is good to hear," Effie nodded.

"What brings you here? Did Haymitch miss out an item on Friday?"

"If something's missin', it ain't my doing. Jo does the packing. You can file a _complain_ against her," Haymitch said and Effie wondered if he would ever let that go, "to _me_. You still remember that this is my place, yeah?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and seriously considered not giving him the extra portion she had packed. She supposed he was lucky she was not terribly petty.

"Do it, I dare you," Johanna glared at her.

"Be at ease then because I am not here with _any_ complain. I've overestimated the portion yet again," she laughed airily as she lifted the bag to show Peeta who smiled knowingly. "And because I am in a charitable mood, I brought some for Haymitch, too."

She laid out the three containers on the counter.

Haymitch came closer out of curiousity and stood directly behind her, close enough that she caught a faint whiff of whiskey and sweat coming from him. Effie inhaled, her fingers curling slightly over the edge of the food container.

She was suddenly quite aware of everything; the way she only stood up to his shoulder without her heels; that he had nicked his skin on the side of his jaw while shaving; that he shaved because two Fridays ago he certainly did not; that if she were to take a step back she would effectively be leaning against him and she was certain that he would be able to envelope her completely in his arms. She wondered how that would feel like.

"You made that? _You_ cook?"

Johanna had wandered over and had pried open the lid of the container to see what she brought.

"You're not so bad when you've got this," Johanna smirked and Effie supposed coming from the young woman that was as good a hand of friendship as any.

"Is it poisoned?" Haymitch asked.

It snapped her attention.

"Johanna and Peeta are still breathing, are they not?"

"There you go again with answering my questions with more questions."

She pursed her lips when he gave her a once over.

"Don't seem the kind," he commented but he pulled a leaf out of Johanna's book and peeled off the lid. Haymitch dibbed a finger in and licked the lemon sauce off it. "You know how to work a kitchen?"

Effie brandished a spoon and fork. "Have some manners."

"You're from the City, yeah? What's someone like you doing in a dump like this?"

She glanced around only to discover that Johanna and Peeta, together with the two food containers were no longer in the store. Effie turned towards Haymitch, a smile on her face.

"What, may I ask, is that job advertisement on your front door for? Short of staff, are you?"

It must be him, she decided, because she hardly ever answered a question with another question but since he had judged her that way... She might as well, and he was asking questions she wasn't truly comfortable answering, not when she hardly knew him.

Haymitch paused in the act of spooning the food in his mouth. The way his eyes darted to her face told her that the fact she just changed the subject was not lost on him.

"Need a bookkeeper, someone to monitor the money going in and out. The accounts' kind of a mess," he explained. "You got a job? Looking for a job or something? Hell, sweetheart, what do you even do in this town?"

"I hope you are aware that I have a name. If I recall, it's stated in my order sheet. Effie Trinket - if you need your memories refreshed."

"Yeah, fine," he grumbled.

"I do have some background knowledge with accounts," she stated. "From school. We are all required to take the subject, you see. They teach the - "

"Great. Good enough," he declared, chewing and speaking at the same time. It made her frown. "When can you start 'cause the kids are hounding me."

"I beg your pardon? I didn't – I didn't apply for the job. I was just asking."

He shrugged. "Think about it, then."

He pushed the food container back to her and the fact that he returned it clean and empty put a genuine smile on her. He said nothing if the food was delicious or if he liked it, but he _finished_ it. He finished _her_ food.

"I shall," she promised.

XxX

"Will you take it?" Dr. Aurelius asked over the phone that afternoon. "It is a good opportunity. You _need_ to do something."

"I've picked up cooking. It is a new hobby of mine. I've told you about it when you asked. Surely you remember?"

"It is a solitary hobby and you, my dear, are not a solitary creature. You love people too much. You love being around them and this store will give you a chance to meet people, perhaps even forge friendships. That man you've told me about, the store owner…."

"He seemed desperate. He didn't even ask for my paper qualifications! Or my working experience. How peculiar… He is an odd man, did I ever tell you, Aurelius?"

"I believe the word you've used quite repeatedly today was 'dangerous'," her therapist chuckled. "You spent quite a while telling me about him – the edge you thought you saw in him."

Effie sighed. She thought back about her encounter with Haymitch that morning. His unkempt house, the backend part of the two where he lived in, the scar on his stomach….

She had a rule about never dating someone she worked with – not that she wanted to date Haymitch – but she supposed working in proximity with him would lessen this interest about him, this _desire._ She couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was she felt but he intrigued her. All that smugness and charm, and teasing that aggravated her, it felt too much like there was something beneath him that he kept to himself.

 _The hip flask…._ It never left his side, and she wondered if he had an addiction problem.

At times, working closely with someone would reveal too much of their nature that it made them unappealing, and after Seneca, this attraction she felt was too dangerous for her. Not wanting to risk herself, she grabbed her phone, deciding right there and then.

**_When can I start? - E_ **

_Who you?_

She frowned.

**_You know who it is._ **

_C u tmr, sweetheart._

She reread the text message, shaking her head at his short hand. She placed the phone on the night stand and went to sleep, thinking of the new day tomorrow would bring.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I can sometimes be Marvel trash, there's the shoutout to Vision, i hope you noticed! So there's a little back story on Effie and a lot of more of Haymitch/Effie interactions. Now they're both curious about each other :)
> 
> Please leave a review and let know your thoughts!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to resign myself to the fact that each chapter is going to be very long. I cannot split them in half when it gets too long bc it will mess with the flow in my point of view.

** Chapter 4 **

He was dreaming; a nightmare involving a blazing fire and a deep sense of helplessness. His feet was buried in the ground as if a quicksand had swallowed them and no matter how hard he pulled he couldn't free himself so he watched. He watched as his store went up in flames, and he watched as Peeta and Johanna tried to fight their way out.

Then she was there, standing between him and the burning building with a hand on her hip and another waving her phone in his face.

Somehow, deep inside his unconsciousness, he slowly became aware of the vibrations. It jerked him awake and he reached blindly beneath him to find the phone wedged under him and the mattress.

He squinted, trying to get his eyes used to the bright glare of the phone. There was a message from _'sweetheart_ ' and in his groggy state it took his mind a while to catch up.

**_Good morning, Haymitch. I am aware that the store is only open at 10 am and that I'm very early, but if you are already in the store, would you mind me letting me in? I can get myself acquainted before opening hours start. [9.35 am]_ **

Without even bothering to reply, he tossed the phone aside and flopped back down. His head was pounding and he was not in the mood to answer her text, or anyone's for that matter. It was laughable that she thought he would be at the shop this early. It was always Peeta. Johanna was a compulsive latecomer. So was he but it was _his_ shop which meant he was only answerable to himself.

**_I'm not sure if you got my text? [9.56 am]_ **

He groaned audibly. He had half a mind to change her name saved in his phone to 'pest' or a variant of it. It would be more fitting.

Like he did with the first text, he ignored the second text just as well. He rolled on his stomach and closed his eyes. Outside, the geese were honking and there were already chatter from the streets. To some living in Twelve, it was already late morning but to Haymitch, it was still far too early.

**_Peeta is here and he has let me in. I thought I should just let you know. [10.13 am]_ **

Haymitch cracked his eyes open. By now he was not only annoyed with Effie Trinket but also by the unnaturally bright glare from the phone's light. A quick check on the time showed that it was fifteen minutes past ten. He was correct in his assessment – it was still too early.

The stocks had already came in the day before which meant he truly had no reason to be at the store at this hour. In fact, if he decided not to turn up at all, Peeta would be more than capable to run the place except if he didn't turn up, Peeta would also send Johanna over to make sure he had not passed out in a pool of his own vomit.

His phone lighted up again with another text message

**_Do you have anything specific in mind that you want me to do today or shall I get right to the books? [10.18 am]_ **

He snatched the phone from where he had discarded it earlier and glared at it. Haymitch went under his contact, fumbling with the different functions until he found what he was looking for. He changed her name.

_Nobody told u not 2 annoy ur boss? Esp on ur 1 st day. [10.39 am]_

He typed the sentence out and sent it to 'Trink'. He barely managed to put the phone down when a reply came in.

**_Was I annoying you? Apologies. Peeta told me that you might still be asleep. The sun is up and shining, Haymitch. You have a shop to run. Early bird catches the worm. [10.40 am]_ **

He frowned. It took him several minutes to type his message and she replied almost instantaneously with a text that was far longer than his. He hoped this would not become a norm because he truly did not fancy the idea of trying to keep up with her.

Since, it was the woman's first day, he figured, at some point, it was better if he make an appearance. He arrived at the store at Twelve.

Haymitch walked in on Johanna and Effie glaring at each other, clearly in the middle of a heated row. Peeta saw him and released a breath. He promptly disappeared to the back of the store to take his lunch.

“Stay out of my way,” Johanna snarled.

Effie huffed indignantly. “There is absolutely no need to be this rude. I am merely suggesting that perhaps the dry biscuits shouldn’t be placed too close to the frozen food.”

At this point, Haymitch seriously considered slowly moving back until he was out of the shop.

“He hired you to deal with the books, right? So go and sit behind the counter,” Johanna gestured.

“Can’t you two get along?” Haymitch muttered and flopped down on the stool behind the cash register.

“Can’t you hire someone else?” Johanna retorted. “She’s a fucking pain in my ass.”

“Language!” Effie clicked her tongue. “Really, those kind of words coming from a lady….”

“Oh, shut up,” Johanna snapped. “You going to fire her or do I have to make her quit?”

“Don’t,” Haymitch warned. “You see anyone else walking in here looking for job? We’re keeping her.”

“You don’t even know if she’s good. _She_ didn’t apply for this job. You hired her so you can ogle at her ass. You think I’m an idiot for not knowing? You need to get laid, Haymitch. Desperately, so you won’t hire hot people on a whim.”

Johanna stalked off, disappearing behind the curtain where Peeta had gone off to. Effie stared at her with her mouth open slightly in a silent gasp.

“Can’t say she’s wrong,” Haymitch shrugged.

“About what? Hiring me just to … Just to ….”

“Ogle at your ass? Maybe,” he smirked. “You know what we got out of that angsty little display? Johanna thinks you’re hot and like I said, she ain’t wrong.”

“I don’t think this is appropriate. I’m just here to do the work you’ve hired me for.”

“If you said so, sweetheart,” he chuckled. “Won’t hurt to have a little fun, yeah?”

Haymitch had no idea what she thought _he_ meant or how she took what he said but there was a blush on her cheeks. There was a lot of ways to have fun but if her thoughts had gone down the gutter, he wouldn’t complain.

“Do you always come in at this hour?” she asked which he was sure was an attempt to steer the conversation back to safe topics.

"Did you see the sign at the front of the store when you came in? What does it say?”

“Abernathy’s Grocery,” she answered.

“Exactly. _Abernathy’s._ My shop, my rules. I’ll come in at whatever hour I feel like.”

“That is not a very good example to set to your employees. Work etiquette is really important. I cannot stress this enough. It determines the success and failure of a business. Often times, a business fails simply because – “

“Alright, shut up,” he said.

“How rude,” she remarked. “Hardly the kind of attitude one should have in the customer service line. Oh, no, where are you going?”

“Out back.”

“There is something I need to discuss with you,” she told him and laid out the ledger in front of him. “I managed to do quite a bit this morning. I’ve gone through the transactions – all monies in and out of this store – for the past three months. I’ve noticed something rather – “

“Sweetheart, listen,” he pinched the bridge of his nose, “it’s too early for this. Just … Do whatever you’ve been doing. At the end of the day or the month, just make sure I’ve got enough to pay the three of you _and_ keep this shop running, yeah? And help yourself to the drink or fruits since you’re into that kind of healthy thing or whatever else you like,” he gestured at the shop.

“I – Thank you for the offer.”

He gave a nod and was about to step away when she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Hold on a minute. I really must talk to you. Now, Haymitch, this peculiarity stood out quite glaringly, I must say. You are not making enough profits to actually afford two employees, much less three, _and_ keep the rent for this shop. Somehow, you managed it and you are getting supplies for your shop more than what people are actually buying it. I am not saying I was ever an economic student but I do understand the basic of things.”

“You really are a talker,” he remarked.

“ _That_ I believe is just an attempt to distract me. As I was saying, your demand and supplies do not match. When there is demand, that is when you supply but –“

“Okay, so what? What are you tryin’ to say?”

He had already fished his silver hip flask out and was fiddling with its cap.

“Are you taking a loan from the bank to keep this place going because that would have to be included in the expenses or do you have an extra income you are injecting into the store? I need to know so I can – “

The change in his demeanour was abrupt. He couldn’t fault her for asking those questions. She was asking the right questions and she was bound to eventually discover the anomaly but he just didn’t expect it too soon. To answer her questions would be to delve into his past he would rather leave untouched.

"There is no other income," he replied tersely and left.

The back of the store was a small cosy room that Peeta had set up for them to take a break in. There was an old off-coloured red sofa against one wall, an armchair in another. The coffee table had old magazines and food wrappers from sweets and biscuits that Johanna never bothered to throw out. In one corner of the room, there was a computer.

He was on the sofa, elbows on his knees, staring at the chessboard when Effie walked in an hour later.

Peeta checked the time on his watch and stood up, "my lunch hour is over. We'll continue this game later."

"Yeah," he grunted.

Effie smiled when Peeta walked past her to mind the shop. She was clutching her purse to her chest and he watched her when she approached him.

"I didn't mean to upset you," she apologised.

He shrugged.

His lack of response was disconcerting to her and she seemed undecided but Effie wisely dropped the subject. He wasn't sure how she did it, but in an instant, her face split into beaming smile.

"I am going to have my lunch. Have you taken yours? Would you like to join me? I was thinking of dropping by at Sae's."

He raised an eyebrow at her, not at all expecting her offer.

"Are you paying?"

Effie blinked, once, twice. "Isn't it bad manners to let a lady pay?"

"I'd pay if it's a date," he winked. "My mama raised me right after all. But this ain't a date, so, you paying?"

"You are impossible," she pursed her lips and left the store through the back door.

Within the short few days since he employed her, Effie had organised the back of the shop. It was clean and dusted, and she had a strong rebuke for anyone who left dirty wrappers lying around and unwashed mugs that stained the table.

The true horror began when she moved on to the store itself. She eyed everything critically and made small changes she thought she could get away with except he noticed when he went to get a bottle of whiskey on the second shelf only to find it had been replaced with soda. The cartons of beers were on the very top shelf, the strong liquor was on the display cabinet behind the cash register.

"So teenagers below the legal drinking age will have to go through one of us to get it," she explained. "Do you know how easily these bottles can be stolen should it remain where it was on the second shelf? Quite easily."

Johanna took offence at the flippant mention of shop theft but she came around when Effie moved on to her next target in the shop.

"This is merely my opinion, of course, but wouldn't it be better for the pregnancy test kit to be displayed next here to the condoms?"

She looked at them in turn, waiting for them to say something. Peeta turned red in the face and promptly excused himself.

Haymitch wriggled his eyebrows at the sight of her holding a box of condom in her hand. She huffed and placed it back on the shelf but it was too late, his thoughts had wandered off to her rolling a condom on him and -

"Why are you letting her run this shop?"

"What?" He asked, startled.

"Never mind. It was a stupid question when you're so fucking in to her that you'll let her do anything."

"I've no idea what you're talking about," he growled as Effie flushed.

"You're staring at her and I bet if I'm not in the room, you'd tear her clothes off and fuck her on that counter."

"Johanna," Effie gasped.

"Whatever," Johanna crossed her arms. "Why do you want the pregnancy kit next to the condoms?"

"Cautionary reminder of what could happen should one forget to use the necessary protection," Effie nodded proudly at her brilliance. "These lubes should be here too in this rack. After all they belong in the same category."

"Right," Haymitch said.

"You do not seem to have that many selection and variation of these," she gestured generally at the items in front of her. "It is rather boring, I must say," she commented further without a thought.

Johanna perked up, and then curiously, she asked, "how many varieties are there?"

"Oh, plenty. There are assortments of flavours you can pick and choose. From strawberries to – why are you both staring at me that way?"

"We're still talking 'bout condoms, yeah?" Haymitch asked.

"Yes, of course," Effie nodded as if this was the most natural topic of conversation one usually engage in. "There is no need to be so uncomfortable. This is a business discussion."

"Is it?" Johanna teased, looking at each of them in turn.

Haymitch asked again, "Strawberry condoms?"

"No, no, strawberry-flavoured condoms. Not strawberry itself on the condom. How ridiculous. Unless... You're into that sort of kink," she amended quickly, her eyes darting from Johanna to Haymitch, wary of offending her new colleagues, "then of course, nobody will judge you. I won't, at least."

Johanna started snickering.

"How about it, Haymitch? Should we bring in some of those flavoured condoms from the city? You can try it with her," she jerked her head at Effie, "bet you'll like that, right?"

"Or maybe, you want it to experiment with that Hawthorne boy," Haymitch shot back. "You should be careful, Jo."

"For the millionth time, leave it alone," Johanna scowled. "Stop trying to play dad."

He frowned and carefully did not look at Effie next to him. He could feel her gaze on them, curious at this exchange. Johanna grabbed the pregnancy test kits and started arranging them on the shelf together with the condoms and lubes.

"You're very open talkin' about things like that," Haymitch muttered, beckoning her away from Johanna before the girl could direct her frustration at her.

"There is no shame in it.”

When Friday afternoon rolled around, he loaded her bicycle - something he had snorted at when he saw the ribbon on the front basket – on the back of his pick-up truck along with her usual groceries.

“Thank you for doing this,” she gushed.

“You’re still buying things from this store so nothing’s changed,” he shrugged. “Deliveries on Friday. I’ll send you off first,” he added even though he had changed his route to make sure her house was the last a week ago, “so you can get home and …. Do whatever it is you do on Friday night.”

“Oh, I don’t mind, really. I can follow you with the deliveries to the other houses. I’ll be able to get to know people in this town, too. After all, it wouldn’t hurt for me to get to know more of our customers. This will be a good opportunity.”

He decided right then that she was a peculiar woman. This was a quiet town, a place for people who wanted to be forgotten and to be left alone. If that was the reason she moved here, her desire to get to know the town’s folks was unusual.

Haymitch gave her a half-shrug and once again, she smiled brightly at him. He started driving.

“Have you lived here in this town all your life?”

“Yeah,” he grunted.

“You must know a lot of the history in this place, and the people here.”

“Guess so.”

“Any interesting things I should know about?”

“You seem like the sort who would find out everything she could about a place before deciding to move. Don’t tell me you found nothing?”

“There were not that many choices and… You can say that I was pushed to this.”

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. Curious as he was, he didn’t prod. It was her past. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter to him.

“How long have you had the store? Was it a family business?”

“Not a family business. Anymore questions, sweetheart? Is this interview over?”

“I – “ she released a breath and leaned back against her seat, drumming her fingers against her thigh.

It was a distracting move because it drew his gaze to the exposed skin of her thigh. She wore those ridiculous short flowing skirts that stopped just above her knee and rode higher when she sat down. When he told her that there was no need to dress up to work in a _grocery store_ , she had insisted that impression matters. Haymitch had gone far beyond being impressed and had resigned himself to resisting from staring too openly at her long pair of legs, smooth and perfectly sculpted. The one week that she was there, he imagined pulling free the blouse she often tucked into the waistband of her skirt. He pictured her cycling and flashing everyone when the wind blew against her skirt.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

"You talk a lot."

"I don't like silences. The quiet… It gets oppressive."

"Surprising, for someone who lives alone," he commented.

She glared at him.

Haymitch was glad for the short drive from his store to the first house. He didn’t think he could take her talking his ears off. When he drove into the Hawthornes’ driveway, Posy was already running towards the car to greet him.

"Uncle Mitch!"

She ran forward the moment he got out from the truck and hugged his legs. He patted her head awkwardly, aware that Effie was watching them.

“Did you get me some chocolate?” Posy dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“Sure I did. A whole bar. Some lollipops too,” he said and handed them to the girl. “You gotta share with your brothers, yeah? And don’t let your mother see that.”

“What did I say, Posy, about asking for candies?” Hazelle chided her daughter before turning to Haymitch. “Don’t do that, Haymitch.”

"It ain't on the bill," he said.

"I know but it's just…." she sighed.

Effie stepped away from the truck and that was when Hazelle noticed her.

"Hello," Effie greeted. “I work at the store now. I’m just accompanying Haymitch on his rounds, learning as much as I can about the day to day operations.”

Haymitch had begun to unload Hazelle’s grocery, leaving them on the step at the front door. They were about to leave when Gale came around.

“Thought I heard you,” Gale said. “We got fresh game. Come around to the back of the house.”

Without a word, Haymitch went with the boy. He had not asked for Effie to come with but she did, walking briskly next to him.

“Who is that?”

“Gale Hawthorne – Hazelle’s son,” he explained in a low tone and as they turned the corner, a girl was standing over a deer on the ground. “And that girl’s Katniss Everdeen. Her mother runs the apothecary. Or at least she used to. The shop’s a waste now.”

“You’re buying?” Katniss asked promptly, always direct and straight to the point. “Who’s this?”

“Someone new. Effie Trinket, works at my store now,” Haymitch said curtly. “I ain’t gonna buy that if you don’t skin it clean. Nobody down at the shop is going to do it.”

“We’ll do it,” Gale said immediately, “but that just mean that we’ll have to charge you more.”

Haymitch glanced at Hazelle over his shoulder.

“Your boy is learning.”

Katniss folded her arms impatiently and drew their attention back to the deer. “So?”

“Clean it. I’ll come back when I’m done with the rounds,” he said.

Haymitch pulled out his wallet and handed both Gale and Katniss a few pieces of the bill each.

He supposed he should expect it. He did hire her to deal with the accounts. The moment they were both back in the truck, she said, “they have a tab in the store.”

“Yeah, so?”

“You could have set it off - what they owe you against the cost of that deer.”

"Could have but that ain't how I do things."

"That's not that way to run a business," she argued. "You need to make profit or at the very least, breakeven, and if - "

"This is _my_ store, not yours. If it's yours then you can do as you damn well please," he snapped.

Effie pursed her lip into a thin line and stared out of the window as he drove. For once, she was quiet.

"Sae's one of our biggest customer. Try not to be a bitch in front of her," he muttered when they began to approach the restaurant.

If looks could kill, he would be six feet under ground.

" _I_ happen to be quite friendly with her. The same couldn't be said about you. She told me that you keep to yourself – not a very good reputation to have as a store owner, quite frankly. You need to have a friendly repertoire with the towns' people."

"Don't be nosy. Don't talk 'bout me with other people. Leave me out of whatever _friendly_ discussion you have."

“I’m just trying to understand, Haymitch,” she lamented after a while. “I am new here and clearly there is a practice between everyone here that escapes me. If I said something that goes against the norm of this town, I hope you would correct me instead of shooting me down. I am an outsider. How am I supposed to know if no one’s willing to teach?”

He said nothing to it and they completed the rest of the deliveries on the roster in silence. She was friendly with everyone, greeting and introducing herself to them.

It was only on the road leading up to her house that he broke the silence in the truck.

“I grew up with her. Hazelle. And Katniss’ father. Hazelle lost her husband, Katniss lost her father. Mine explosion. This town’s history ain’t always rainbows and sunshine. We’ve seen our fair share of deaths and tragedy. You haven’t seen all of it. Leave Capitol Street and when you go running, go further down my house in Twelve. You’ll see. The houses become smaller, run down. People are poorer. They don’t always have the money – the mines don’t have much - but I got food. I have a whole fuckin’ store filled with food and stuffs. I ain’t gonna let those people starve for some profit.”

He could feel her staring at him but he kept his eyes fixed on the road.

"They'll pay me if they've got some change to spare. But here, people don't like charity. They work hard, they earn their keep, and they try to settle what they owe."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N I'm not sure if condoms and stuff are sold in a typical grocery store in other countries or if they can only be found in a pharmacy but here we do. You can go in to shop for fruits and vegetables and swing by the payment counter for condoms/lubes on your way out.
> 
> How did you find the Effie's first week at the store, being colleagues with Johanna and Haymitch, his increasing attraction for her and Effie slowly learning more about the town? Let me know!


	5. Chapter 5

 

**Chapter 5**

In all seriousness, Effie truly believed her decision to work for Abernathy's Grocery was a brilliant move on her part. Haymitch Abernathy possessed terrible work ethics.

He wasn't very forthcoming with information on the books which made it difficult to work _with_ him. It put her in a corner so she had to learn to work with what she had.

Since she came around, not only did she handle the bookkeeping, he made her read and deal with all the contracts he had with the suppliers. She called and placed orders, and all he had to do was sign on them. She didn't truly mind contacting the suppliers. Chaff was ruthless with his teasing and Finnick was chatty but it broke the monotony in the store sometimes.

Haymitch often came in late, as and when he pleased. He was never the person to do the opening of the store. It was always Peeta since he would be the first to arrive, and at times, he was not punctual either. Effie was not sure if Haymitch knew of this tardiness in his staff but if he did, he never thought that it was much of an issue.

Johanna was a handful with quite a character. Effie had told her repeatedly that she should smile and greet the customers that walked in the way Peeta did, but she never listen. It infuriated her but it amused Haymitch immensely. Even worse was the fact that Johanna exchange crude jokes and banters with some customers. It made Effie wince, especially when she casually stroll up to the liquor section to grab a bottle from the shelf at the end of her shift. She would drink at the back of the store away from the customers' prying eyes but Effie still didn't think that made it alright.

Naturally, Effie saw this as a problem. Haymitch didn't which was not surprising to her. He had no qualms drinking on the job himself. It was slightly off-putting which in retrospect was good for _her_. This odd attraction, the way her heart raced a little when he was near was confusing to her.

So, yes, she figured, working in close proximity with Haymitch was serving its purpose. It would dampen this desire and change it all.

Until that Friday.

"Would you like to stay... for tea?"

Haymitch paused for a brief second. Slowly, he lowered the paper bag containing tins of condensed milk on the kitchen counter.

"You asking me for tea?" he asked with a guarded expression.

She waited for the mocking snort or insult but it never came and even ran through all the reasons Haymitch would not want to have tea with her; it was not professional, he had other things to do or maybe tea was not his preferred drink of choice.

"Yes," she said after a short silence.

It was a tentative olive branch.

She felt ill at ease for the way she treated him, for assuming she knew better about the way his store should be run. Truth be told, she was starting to see him in a different light, see another side to him.

He might have terrible work ethics but after the round of deliveries and after what he told her about the other side of this town had shifted her perception of him. She wasn't seeing him as the rude and smug man that first appeared on her door, which was in itself a little odd considering his reputation to keep to himself.

_"I ain't gonna let those people starve for some profit."_

Haymitch's principle was unheard of from where she was raised. The city was an individualistic place. People step on one another to get to the top and they would not hesitate to bury someone to stay on top. She should know. Seneca did it with her. He buried her.

Even Peeta's habit of giving away food before it hit its expiration and the fact that Haymitch continued to allow him to do it spoke volumes of the kind of people they are.

Knowing this, she began to wonder what happened to all those foods in the giant supermarket chain in the city and what the company policy entailed. She wondered if all the foods were thrown away, gallons and gallons of food, while people in the poorer part of this town starved.

"Don't you drink tea?" she asked when he gave no answer to her offer.

"Friday night on your night off and you want _me_ to stay for tea?"

"Apparently, I am not the only person to answer a question with another, is it?"

He smirked. "You know what I think, sweetheart?"

"Please, do enlighten me."

"I think," he took a step towards her. "You can't get enough of me. Not even after you've spent _hours_ with me at the shop every day."

Effie released a breath and side stepped him. The only reason she was uncomfortable with this proximity was because she did not trust herself not to do something embarrassing like touch him.

"Are you always behaving this way when you find yourself alone with a woman? I don't believe I have actually seen this side of you at the store with the customers."

"What side?"

"This... This teasing, charming attitude. Why, Haymitch, if I didn't know better, I'd think you're flirting with me."

He folded his arms and leaned his hip against the counter.

"You want me to flirt with customers? Is this one of your business tactics, sweetheart? One of your ways on how I should run my store? Should I flirt with Sae? Hazelle, maybe, yeah?"

"No. I – No," she sputtered. This was not how she imagined the conversation going. It went back to the core of the issue that made her felt guilty in the first place. "It was just an observation. Not... Not a tactic. Haymitch," she started with a sigh, "I apologise for overstepping my boundaries. It's your business, I know that. I thought I was helping but it turns out that... Well, I'm sorry."

She turned away from him when he merely stared at her. She distracted herself by putting off the groceries to the appropriate places when she felt him sliding closer.

Effie froze.

"So what you're saying is, you only want me to flirt with you..."

She turned and glared at him. "That not what I said, at all! Why are you so difficult? All I ask was if you wanted to stay for tea – a question you have yet to answer, mind you."

"You're easy to rile up," he commented with a chuckle as he settled himself on one of the high stools along the kitchen island. "I'll stay – shouldn't pass up the chance to annoy you even more, yeah?"

She pursed her lips but set the water boiling. She could feel his eyes on her as she reached up the overhead cupboard for tea cups and saucers, and as she bend down to get tea bags from the lower cupboard. She tried to deny it but it thrilled her to have his attention on her even if she was used to having attention from men and women. There was something about Haymitch, something raw and primal and genuine that sent her heart racing.

"Have you ever been to the city?" she asked once she had taken the seat across from him, the cup of tea held gingerly in her hands.

"Don't like it – too loud, too busy."

Effie nodded. That was something she could understand now that she had experienced for herself life in this town.

"For someone who lives alone, you need a hell of a lot of groceries," he observed.

"Alone? You've only been here three times. A little premature to be making such observation is it? For all you know, I might have a husband upstairs in his study doing important things," she laughed lightly.

His gaze dropped to her ring finger pointedly.

"I don't think so, and you said nothing 'bout a husband or anyone else livin' in your house. Also, sweetheart, if I got a wife like you, I'm going to have a problem with you inviting men over for tea so nah, you don't have a husband, no normal men would be alright with it."

Effie blushed despite herself. She wasn't sure if it was from _'a wife like you'_ or the possessiveness in his voice. To mask it, she tossed him a smile so blinding. It usually worked in distracting the person from prodding too much.

"It's a hobby," she admitted. "Something to fill my time when I'm home."

"What? Buying groceries for your kitchen?"

Effie had brought something each day for Haymitch, Peeta and Johanna, and it surprised her that Haymitch never picked up on all those dishes being the reason she needed groceries unless, of course, that was his poor attempt at making small talks.

"No, of course, not," she laughed again. "Cooking. I've never really had a hobby before. Well, unless you consider shopping or fashion a hobby. So I'm testing the waters so to speak, trying to find one that's suitable for me now."

"And you think cooking's for you?"

"You sound sceptical," she bit her lip. "You don't like my food?"

Johanna had a lot to comment which Effie was beginning to suspect was merely to spite her, but the girl was always the first to snatch the food container off the counter. Peeta was always polite and generous with his compliment. As for Haymitch, similar to the first time he ate her food the day he offered her the job, he always finished them and would leave the empty container lying around at the back of the store. He never said a word about it to her afterwards.

"It's food," he shrugged. "I've tasted worse."

She winced. She took it to mean that her food was bad.

"Have you?" She asked instead, refusing to dwell on the quality of her cooking.

"Ration foods aren't always the best.

"Ration... the military?"

He broke his gaze and changed the subject. "Ain't this place too boring for someone like you?"

"Maybe I need the boring," she gave him a strained smile.

"I'm sensing a story," he raised his cup to his lips and watched her from the rim of the cup.

"Everyone's got a story," she deadpanned. "From the moment we're born to this very moment. There's _always_ a story," she gave him a pointed look.

The corner of lips twitched. She held his gaze, wondering if he would actually tell her anything but she was left disappointed though she expected nothing less. They barely knew each other after all for him to divulge anything.

"Alright, got to go," he murmured, "got to head back to the store. The two kids got the night off, too."

She watched him leave through the window and even gave a wave as he pulled out from the driveway. He gave her a half smile through the rear view mirror.

On her run that Saturday morning, Effie passed by the meadow and the small pond before she turned towards a narrow path that would lead her to the street where Haymitch lived. His red pick-up truck was still parked on the driveway which meant he was still home. She ran passed his house and further along Twelve just as he had told her to. He wasn't lying. His house and a few others were situated at the entrance of the street and it was the only decent looking houses on that street. As she ventured further down, the houses grew smaller, beaten, and poorly maintained. The neighbourhood seemed rough. She saw missing shingles on roof top, window tiles that did not match one another as if they had been randomly chosen and hastily fixed together as long as it did its job to stop the elements from infiltrating the house. She saw an old man on a rickety old rocking chair smoking his pipes giving her a toothless smile.

"Hi!" someone waved at her.

Effie slowed down and jogged in place as she waited for the girl to approach her.

"Delly!" she exclaimed in recognition. "Delly, yes? I'm still trying to remember names and faces, and I'd really hate to – "

"Don't worry, you didn't get the wrong person," Delly laughed. "You bought a pair of sandals at my father's shop a few weeks back."

"Yes," Effie nodded.

"I heard from Peeta that you're working at the grocery store now."

"I am."

"Great! I help Peeta distribute some of the canned foods that Mr. Abernathy can no longer sell in the store every month or so. Maybe you can join us some time? It'll be great. Faster, too," Delly winked.

"Oh," Effie said. "I – Yes, of course."

Delly beamed at her and with another jovial wave, she disappeared using one of the short cuts through the woods that Effie had never dared to venture in. She resumed running, going back where she came.

As she neared Haymitch's house, she saw that his truck was still in the driveway. She wasn't truly surprised. He would never be at the store this early. She paused briefly but curiousity got the better of her so she unlatched the gate to let herself in.

A dirty pathway led the way from the gates up to his front door. On the right was a pen which was empty. She paid it no heed and continued walking. She wasn't exactly sure what it was that she was doing but she let her feet lead her until it didn't.

The honking startled her so much and when she located the source of the noise, she froze in place.

"Oh, no," she fretted in a fractured whispered as she took in the sight before her.

A goose was staring at her.

There was more honking and a slow glance over her shoulders showed her a gaggle of goslings with the mother in the lead.

"I am in geese territory," she muttered in disbelief.

Very carefully, she raised a foot and took a step to the side. It was a mistake because the goose in front of her misjudged her intention. It reared to its full height and spread its wing aggressively before attacking. It wrapped its wings around Effie's head causing her to temporarily lose her sight. Effie swatted it away as she stumbled around blindly.

She screamed and screamed, desperately calling for help, and even threatened to cook the bird when she felt a pair of strong hands hauling her up and dragging her away.

"Shoo. Get away from her. She's harmless – just a clueless intruder. Go away now. If you want to be fed, you leave her alone."

Effie registered the voice and clawed at his hands to ground herself to him. She heard him hiss.

"Calm the fuck down, woman. I got you."

"Haymitch!" she screamed in panic.

"I got you," he repeated.

The pressure on her head was gone and as she frightfully glanced back, she saw the goose waddling away towards its pen.

"Why do you – What are those things?" She asked once she was in the safety on his house. "Why do you keep such ferocious monsters?"

"They ain't monsters," he chuckled, almost with a little fondness that horrified her. How could anyone be fond of those fowls was beyond her. "They just don't like you. And for good reasons, too, yeah? Snooping around my house..."

"The feeling is mutual," she said tersely choosing to ignore his accusation of her being a snoop. "They are horrid."

"They're my geese."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you keep them? Peculiar choice of pets," she commented.

"Some people keep guard dogs, I keep geese. It keeps people away. Like you. So.. what are you doing snooping around?"

"I wasn't," she sighed, finally forced to address the matter. "I was running along Twelve. Went all the way to the end like you told me to. On my way back, I saw your truck. I thought - "

"Yeah?"

She paused. The truth was, she had no idea what she thought she was doing. She was curious, perhaps even nosy.

"I thought I should just check in on you but never mind that now. You need to send me to the doctor. I've been bitten," she held out her hand to show him the marks and wounds.

"It's just a scratch," he announced after a mere glance. "I can fix it for you. No need for the doctors."

"I think it's better if I get a doctor's consultation."

"Why, Trinket, you don't trust me?" he teased.

She wasn't twenty-two anymore. She had lost the privilege of youth to trust without recourse, to see the good in people always, to build and form friendship with such fervour passions. She had fallen in love and was left disappointed. Friends she thought were true to her turned their backs on her, and she realised then that they stuck to her because of her fame, because she was popular and well-known.

Her whole life had been pulled from under her and there he was standing in front of her with a grin on his face, his grey eyes sparkling bright under the sunlight filtering through the cracks of his window and she wanted to foolishly trust him.

She even thought that given time she _could_ trust him.

Still, it was a loaded, heavy question, one that she took too long to answer.

"Relax, sweetheart, you've only known me, you shouldn't trust me," he snickered. "But I'm just going to clean your wound, not kill you."

"Alright," she acquiesced, sitting down on the nearest seat she saw.

She watched him clean the trickle of blood on her arm, the way his eyes flickered to her face when she hissed in pain after he pressed a little too hard and she thought his eyes were his best feature.

Hating the silence, she began to talk.

"Where did you learn to treat wounds? From the military?"

"There's a hell of a lot of things you can talk about and you want to talk 'bout my past?"

Now that he was done with her hand, he tilted her head to the side to get to the cut on the side of her jaw. He pulled the stool closer to her, his knee bumping into hers.

He was so close to her. She held her breath, her fingers curling on the edge of her seat, not from the pain but to stop herself from running her fingers down the plane of his chest. When she had screamed earlier, it must have startled him and he must have dressed in a hurry. The few top buttons were undone and she was itching to -

"Ouch! Be gentle," she told him.

She felt his fingers prodding the side of jaw and down her neck, looking for any other cuts before he declared that he was done. She lamented the loss of his touch when he pulled his hand away.

"I should have snapchatted my ordeal," she murmured. "My family would have a good laugh, my nephew especially. I bet my buttons he had never seen a goose before."

"Snap what?"

"Snapchat?" Her brows furrowed together at his apparent lack of confusion. "It's an app on the phone. Quite famous now. Emmanuel introduced it to me. "

At the blank look on his face, Effie gave an outward sigh.

"How do I explain this... It is quite similar to Twitter, except, it is mostly just photos and videos, and oh, of course, filters! You can make all of this into a story and - "

"What the hell's Twitter?"

Her gasp was telling.

"Do you have _any_ social media account at all?"

"Yeah, Facebook. Finnick made it for me couple of years back. Don't use it much, only to see photos of his son that he …" Haymitch clicked his fingers repeatedly, as if that would help to jog his memory, "what's that word?"

"Tagged you?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "Yeah. You know Finnick right? Supply us with all the seafood for the store. He's got a baby with Annie – his girl."

"Yes, of course, I know Finnick! You made me deal with all the suppliers lately. Honestly, Haymitch. Now, let me see... Facebook, you said?"

She pulled out her phone, went to the blue icon and started typing his name. She looked up at him in exasperation.

"You don't even have a profile photo. How is anyone's supposed to know it's you?"

"Like I said, don't use it much."

She added him as friend. "Well, please accept my request," she gestured.

"Bossy," he muttered but did it anyway and the ping on her phone notified her of the same. "Wait here, and don't snoop around my house. If you have an urge to clean my house just 'cause you're little miss perfect, here's an advice, sweetheart, don't. You did it at the store, you don't have to do it here where I _live_. I'll send you home – don't think you want to walk out there alone with all the geese around."

While waiting for him to get a change of clothes, she sat on his sofa and surveyed her surroundings. It was dark and dreary, and she was itching to pull back all the curtains and drapes in the living room to let the light in instead of that single stream of light from one window. There were empty bottles on the floor and piles of clothes on an armchair. She wondered if they were dirty and unwashed, and wrinkled her nose at the thought.

Effie kept her hands on her knees, her lips pursed into a line. It wouldn't take her long to clear the coffee table, she thought, but she forced herself to resist. It wasn't long before she heard his footsteps approaching and raised her head.

"This is you naked in bed with a flower crown," he held out his phone for her to see.

Her face flushed in mortification. That had been an old profile photo and he must have been scrolling through them up in his bedroom when he changed his shirt.

"Why were you naked in bed? Why would you take a photo of you _naked_ in bed with a flower crown and then let people _see_ it?"

"I wasn't naked," she hissed. "I'm covered with a quilt."

"Yeah but you're naked _under_ it, anyone can tell," he pointed out and from the tone of his voice she knew he was imagining it.

"Don't picture me naked," she snapped.

"Too late," he smirked as he eyed her in her three quarter tights that showed off the shape of her legs and ass, and tight fitting tank top with an intensity that left her hot and bothered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That profile photo of Effie with a flower crown was an inspiration from Elizabeth Banks' snapchat where she was covered up to her chest in a quilt with a flower crown. Anyway, we had Effie and Haymitch talking over tea and Effie in Haymitch's house for the first time! We also got a glimpse into Haymitch's past too, hayffie + social media. Because Chaff is alive, Finnick is too. Finnick deserves to be with Annie and his son. For once, maybe, everybody lives! So let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I know in Chapter 5 I said that I won't be updating this week. However, there were several people on tumblr who asked me if I could post it after I return from my trip. I can't update on the usual Saturday, so here's a random Thursday update so instead of after I come back, you get a chapter before I leave tomorrow morning! :)

 

**Chapter 6**

His feet were stretched out in front of him on the coffee table and the Tupperware was balanced precariously on his lap. Haymitch plucked one of the shrimp to dip it in the sauce before biting it clean to the tail.

"You keep this up, you might give Sae a run for her money," he commented and licked his fingers clean, "and I ain't sure she's gonna like it. Competition ain't good for a small town."

"There is really no need to compliment my food just because I helped to cover your shift yesterday and close the store," she told him. "Johanna made it clear to me the sauce was bland."

"So maybe Jo got some standards. I don't," he shrugged. "Food's food, remember? And to me, it's good."

Haymitch raised his head when she stepped into his line of vision by standing in front of him. She slapped his feet away from the table. She had a rule about that, not that he paid it any heed. To be honest, he quite enjoyed annoying her; little inconsequential things made her pursed her lips, sometimes with her hands on her hips and a glare. It made her hot – hotter than she already was, a fact he finally admitted to himself after spending weeks working with her – and it made him want to back her against a wall and kiss the frown away.

"A compliment and an insult all wrapped in one neat sentence. You truly are a master," she teased him snidely.

"I have my gifts," he winked.

"The back of the store was a place for me to chill before you came around," Johanna shot Effie a look as she came in. "Now each time I walk in and you two happen to be here, I want to throw up a little in my mouth. How about a rule? No flirting in the store."

"I don't flirt," Haymitch frowned.

"You do," Effie exclaimed. "I've been saying, haven't I? Your techniques are not very good but they are there all the same."

"Can't believe I'm agreeing with Trinket here, but you flirt with _her._ Never actually seen you do it with anyone else. It's disgusting," Johanna dropped on the sofa next to him and turned on the old television mounted on the wall.

She flipped through the channels absentmindedly, leaving him deep in thought, a moment of self-reflection for him. He didn't do _flirting_. He could be charming, sure, when he needed to but he had no reason to be with Effie. She had seen him threw up outside his store next to his truck and no amount of charm could erase that from her mind, he was sure. She had worked double shift to cover his when she found him passed out at the back of the store. She could have just left him there but she supported his dead weight back to the truck and drove him home. She had cycled back from his house to hers in the middle of the night and he felt guilty for that. Anything could have happened to her. _Anything._

"Holy shit," Johanna exclaimed.

It jolted his attention. Johanna was at the edge of her seat, her eyes glued to the television screen. Haymitch immediately understood the reason for Johanna's reaction – a photo of Effie was on the screen.

It was a rerun of a talk show from the night before, hosted by Claudius Templesmith. Haymitch knew of him but had never watched any of his shows. The guest for the night show was a woman named Portia, a stylist. Being an acquaintance of Effie Trinket, the topic had circled back to her and how she had not been seen in the city for the past four months.

His eyes darted to Effie. She had stood frozen on her way out back to the main store and she was staring at the screen in disbelief.

"You are one of the Angels?" Johanna shifted in her seat to face Effie.

Effie shifted on her feet, visibly uncomfortable by the question. He had never seen her this way. Not including the incident with his geese, Effie was always self-assured and confident to the point of getting on people's nerves.

"I was," she answered in a soft voice.

"A what?" Haymitch asked, not quite following the conversation.

She must have been _someone_ for her to appear on television in some talk show, and for people to speculate her 'disappearance'.

"Victoria's Secret," Johanna began to explain. "Their models... They are called Angels," she snickered and addressed Effie, her eyes lighting up with glee at this discovery, "and you're one of them."

"I said I was," she replied tersely.

"Hilarious," Johanna laughed. "What's a model like you doing in this old town, working in a fucking grocery store? Nothing glamourous about this job. Right, Haymitch?"

"What in hell is Victoria's Secret?" He asked instead, growing more annoyed by the second for being a step behind in this conversation.

"They sell women stuff. Lingerie, bra, panties, you know?" Johanna said impatiently. "Don't tell me you've never heard of them or looked them up. No need to now, one is standing right in front of you."

"Hold on a minute," Haymitch scooted to the edge of his seat, suddenly alert and very interested. " _You_ model for lingerie and bras? There's gotta be photos, right?"

"We can probably find them off the internet. Let me Google her up," Johanna volunteered, taking unrestrained delight in unearthing Effie's hidden life.

Johanna went over to the old computer and booted it up. She glanced behind her shoulder, grinning at Effie.

"I will see if Peeta needs help," Effie left abruptly but not before Haymitch saw her eyes hardened.

The browser was loading when Johanna beckoned him over.

"You got to look at this," Johanna gestured when the photos began to appear one after another.

He stood behind Johanna's chair, peering over her shoulder at the computer screen. There were photos of Effie in prop wings dressed only in matching bra and panties walking down the runway, a group photo of her in lingerie with other models, a shot of her in bikini wear at a beach. He took in the sight of it greedily. There were times, once or twice, in the middle of the night, alone in his bed when he had thought of her and imagined how she look like underneath the blouses and tempting skirts she wore at the store. Sometimes he pictured her as he saw her in her running clothes, wearing the tights that could very well be her second skin.

In the next page, there were also several photos of her hanging on the arms of a dark haired man with a ridiculous beard.

He stared at the photos of her with the man, feeling something sparked in him, a rush of blood to his head. He wondered who that was and where he was, and if she was still in contact with him.

_What do I care if they are?_

He frowned at his sudden surge of anger but the curiousity had begun to build. Effie seemed happy in those photos which led him to wonder...

"What happened to her?" he mused.

Hearing his question, Johanna navigated the page from 'images' to 'web'. There were numerous articles on her and a name stood out – Seneca Crane - who he assumed must be that man. From the headlines, he gleaned some sort of scandal involving them both and there were talks of a contract that was never renewed.

"Stop," Haymitch turned off the monitor before Johanna could protest. "She's never asked about us. Not once did she come up to us and ask what we did before or where you were from, nothing about Peeta's parents or how he lost his leg. She's never poke around."

"So?" Johanna crossed her arms and jutted her chin stubbornly.

"So, we shouldn't pry."

She chuckled derisively. "A bit too late for that now, don't you think? You've seen all those photos. You can't _unsee_ it."

"Haymitch," Peeta stood by the entrance of the backroom. "My shift's over so I'm heading up."

"Alright," Haymitch nodded.

After his house had burnt down, Haymitch had offered the upstairs room to Peeta. Johanna was the only one staying and there was more than enough room for them both.

"Is everything alright? Effie seemed..." He tilted his head, searching for the right word to say. "I don't know... Upset, I think."

"Nothing happen," Haymitch grumbled under his breath.

"I'm going too," Johanna stood up. "There's going to be free drinks, something like that at the pub. Overheard Gale talking about it when he was here so I thought I'll go. You want to come, Peeta?"

"You are meeting Gale?" Peeta crinkled his brows. The change in his demeanour was obvious. "Will his friend... Will Katniss be there?"

Haymitch smirked. It was pitiful watching the boy sometimes. Peeta had told him once that he doubted Katniss knew he even exist which was impossible since the girl had been to the store and had definitely seen him around. The girl was surly and quiet, and it didn't surprise Haymitch that she had not struck a conversation with Peeta. She only spoke if only to retort against whatever snide remarks Johanna threw her way.

"Guess you'll have to come and find out," Johanna winked.

Peeta hesitated.

"Go," Haymitch said, "and try talkin' to her if she's there. I've heard you tellin' stories to little kids, you spin a great tale, don't tell me you can't say hello."

"I got him," Johanna snickered and led Peeta out through the back door.

With the store to themselves, Haymitch went back to the main area. The sun was slowly setting, and the miners were pouring into the streets to head home. Effie was by the counter near the cash registers, going over the receipts as she carefully noted down each transactions and cash flow into their ledger.

Haymitch approached her, plucking an apple from the crate on his way over. Pulling the knife from his pocket, he began cutting it into thin slices.

If she was aware of his presence, she was doing a good job of ignoring it. He offered her a piece of the sliced apple. She raised her head in annoyance.

"It's just apple. Nothin' unhealthy. You can eat a danm apple, yeah?" he grumbled.

"Language," she clicked her tongue but took the proffered slice.

He leaned against the counter directly across from her, eating a piece of apple directly from his knife.

"Did you and Johanna have a good laugh?"

"Nothin' to laugh about."

"Not even my fall from fame?" She asked snidely. "People _love_ laughing at that. It was the topic of conversation for _months._ "

"I don't know anything 'bout it. I didn't read it and neither did Johanna."

She frowned and dropped the pen she was holding to cross her arms, a defensive gesture, he noted. That or she was feeling insecure.

"Then what did you look up on the internet?"

"Mostly photos," he told her the truth.

"Should have figured."

"You're hot," he commented, his lips stretching into a slow smirk. "I've always known you're hot, I ain't blind, but seeing you in those… Nothin' left to the imagination now. You're fuckin' hot, sweetheart."

If the blush was anything to go by, she was not expecting that.

"I – Yes, thank you," she cleared her throat and in a smaller voice, she said, "you're the only one to think that now."

"What's that mean?"

There was a flash of uncertainty before Effie sigh.

"I mean, there is a reason I am here," she gestured widely at the store, "and not walking down the runway."

"What's that reason then?"

"You just want me to say it," she glared accusingly at him.

"Look, _I_ don't know why you're here, alright. You said you needed the quiet, the _boring_. You don't want to say it, don't. I ain't forcing," he shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me one way or the other."

He supposed that was the end of the conversation. He pushed himself off the counter and had already moved away when her voice stopped him.

"I'm not beautiful enough anymore."

He laughed; a loud chuckle that froze on his face when he turned around convinced that she was pulling his leg only to see that she was being deadly serious.

"That's bullshit," he spat, trying to squash this sudden spike of anger bubbling at the pit of his stomach. He couldn't understand where it was coming from. "If they can't see how beautiful you are, that's _their_ problem, not yours."

She stared at him, wide blue eyes blinking slowly as if she couldn't believe what she just heard. The way she was looking at him made him tear his gaze away, clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck in an uncomfortable gesture.

"You do have a gift," she offered him a smile, "with the insult and compliment."

"Is this what this is – all these eating healthy and watching your diet? You're watching your figure?" He asked. "You're gonna go back to become one of them... the angels again?"

"Oh, no. Not with Victoria's Secret. I think that part of my career is over for good," she told him, "but I can still... Well, I can still be a model for other agencies or companies. There are plenty in the City. All I need is to let the situation simmer down and yes, watch my figure. There is no need to let myself go completely."

"Simmer down... So that's why you're here in this forgotten town. No one knows you here. No one's gonna bother."

His gaze dropped to her fingers that were fiddling with the cap of the pen. His fingers twitched. Instead of giving in to temptation and reaching across to still her fiddling fingers and hold it tight, he jammed his hands in his pockets.

 _Fucking ridiculous,_ he shook his head to get rid of the thought.

"You are right. Nobody has figured out who I am. _You_ didn't recognise me. Johanna didn't recognise me. When I walk down the street, nobody knows who I am. I like the anonymity of it. It is what I need right now."

"Then what?" he asked. "This is just temporary for you so then what?"

There was a bitter taste on his tongue at the thought of her leaving. He had gotten used to walking into the store to see the three of them working, to hear her voice talking to customers and rebuking Johanna, and knowing that if he get his ass up from his floor where he had passed out and drive himself to the store, there would be food waiting for him. He had gotten used to doing the deliveries with her on Friday, and then driving her home with her bicycle at the back of his truck.

"Then I return to the City," she said in a single breath.

She smiled at him. _Forced_ , he deduced. That wasn't the way she often smiled at him. He knew her smile. He knew it after weeks – _months -_ of being greeted with her smiling face the moment he entered his store.

"What happened to you?"

She blinked and looked down. She picked up her pen, uncapped it, her fingers poised as if she intended to resume her work before he had walked in earlier, only to cap it back again.

"See, I ain't prying into your past," he said when he saw the reluctance. "I'm asking and the thing about asking is, if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

She afforded him another smile, strained but at least it was real.

"You can find a tremendous amount of information from the internet, some of it true, some of it an exaggeration of the truth, but none of them has _my_ side of the story. I never spoke to the media about it. Not once, not at all. I - Thank you for not looking it up on the internet."

"You didn't go 'round asking everyone in this town 'bout me," he shrugged.

He closed the ledger and capped her pen. He collected the receipts that she had gone through earlier and clipped it together, stuffing them in between pages of the ledger.

"Look, you can deal with this tomorrow," he muttered. "You can go off, go home."

"Are you letting me off early because I covered you yesterday?" she teased.

"Maybe," he shrugged. "Go before I change my mind."

The corner of her eyes crinkled as she laughed. He liked it when she laugh because each time she did, her hand would fly to the base of her throat and it never fail to draw his attention to the column of her throat, her jawline and her cleavage.

He heard her walking around the back of the store, collecting her purse and her coat.

When she emerged, she bade him goodbye. He nodded, pulling the flask from his pocket, and maybe it was the sight of him drinking alone in the store that made her pause on her way to the door.

He felt her eyes on him and then her voice reached him, soft and determined.

"Let's have coffee," she declared. "There won't be that many customers at this hour in any case. You won't be losing business."

He looked up, the flask forgotten.

"Let's have coffee, Haymitch," she said once more. "We can get to know each other… at some place that is not here in this store or at my house when you deliver my groceries."

"Coffee?" he asked as if he was sixteen _and_ stupid.

"Yes, coffee," she deadpanned. "That's what people do when they want to get to know each other. They have coffee, they talk, the forge a connection."

_Why on earth does she want to get to know me? I said nothing about wanting to get to know -_

Something else she said struck him.

_A connection…_

There were alarm bells going off in his head, sirens that he should heed. A part of him needed to call Chaff just to hear his old friend confirm that this was indeed a bad idea because he knew this was a bad idea.

He didn't form connections with any woman, and especially not Effie Trinket, a woman who sooner or later would leave this town to seek her lost fame. His modus operandi was to go to the pub, buy a woman a drink and then let them take _him_ home. He never even brought them to his house because it would be easier to do the leaving when he was at theirs. Somehow, he didn't think coffee for Effie Trinket was code for one night stand.

She was waiting for him. A lesser woman would have been unnerved by his silence and would take it to mean that he wasn't keen on the idea but this was Effie so she stood by the door and drummed her fingers patiently on the knob.

This was a woman, he thought, who probably had men falling at her feet, someone who could pick and choose the man she wanted to be associated with. By that virtue alone, he was tempted to say no just to see how she would react to it.

 _She'd go to the coffee shop anyway or the pub where Johanna is and there'll be another man willing to spend time with her,_ a voice whispered and he didn't like that thought at all.

"Is this is a city thing?" he asked. "Getting to know each other over coffee?"

"I can assure you I have seen this happening right here at the coffee shop in this town," she told him. "Perhaps you need to go out more, socialise more. You can start that by getting coffee with me."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this a date? Is this a friendly thing? How exactly will Effie's 'getting to know each other' go? Will Haymitch go with her? What do you think of Johanna googling about Effie and Haymitch seeing the photos? Leave your thoughts in the review! It will be nice to come back to read some reviews and you know, reviews always keep a writer motivated :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is supposed to be in Effie's POV since Chap 6 was in Haymitch's BUT I messed up while writing (in other words, I forgot to switch to Effie's) so we get Haymitch's POV again. I could change it but I've written several other chapters that come after this which means I'd have to change every single one of those too otherwise.

Effie Trinket was a difficult woman to resist when she was standing in front of him with that commanding voice and a determined expression on her face. So he allowed himself to be persuaded and there they were, walking towards the coffee shop.

 

He paused before the door, thinking twice.

 

"Is everything okay?" Effie asked, a hand on the door waiting to push it open.

 

Haymitch gritted his teeth and with a nod, he said, "Fine."

 

He had not been at the coffee shop for months, _years_ probably.

 

His life was simple. It was the grocery store and back to his house if he did not have to do any deliveries. When the stocks came in every other month, he would take his truck to the train station to load it up, Store, home, train station and nothing else.

 

The moment he stepped inside, a hush silence fell. Every head in the room turned towards them that even Effie seemed startled by it but soon, they all returned to their respective conversations, ignoring the two newcomers.

 

"Here," he grabbed her by the elbow to steer her towards a secluded corner.

 

He dropped into an empty chair. It did not escape his notice the way she pursed her lips before finally pulling her own chair to take a seat.

 

"You know," she said casually, "a proper gentleman would have pulled out the chair for me."

 

"I ain't proper _or_ a gentleman. Regretting your choice to spend time with me already?" he asked with a sneer.

 

It was an unconscious act of trying to drive her away, to cut short the evening.

 

"Not at all - this is all part of getting to know you, isn't it?" Effie threw him a smile. She was resolute, he would give her that. "First fact – Haymitch Abernathy will _not_ pull out chairs for his lady."

 

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You ain't... You're not my - "

 

"Something to drink?"

 

A young boy stood next to their table, hands clasped in front of him. Haymitch turned his attention away from Effie to the boy waiting to take their order. The boy flashed him a smile.

 

"I will have a macha latte, please. What about you, Haymitch?"

 

Her request was odd but Haymitch expected nothing less from her. The same couldn’t be said about their waiter who gaped at her, looking a little uncertain. He glanced at Haymitch for help who in turn shot Effie an amused look.

 

The teenager stammered, "Matcha?"

 

"Give me coffee – black, no sugar," Haymitch ordered. "She'll have something _normal._   Tea or coffee, sweetheart? This ain't Starbucks." 

 

Effie huffed. She gathered herself and changed her order accordingly. "Well, tea then.”

 

Haymitch rolled his eyes; so much for ‘ _let’s have_ _coffee, Haymitch’._

 

"No sugar," Effie added, "but if you can add a dash of cinnamon for flavour, that will be marvellous! Or a cinnamon stick to stir it with, that will be good, too." 

 

The boy nodded. "You have peculiar taste, mam." 

 

"Yeah, gotta agree with the kid," Haymitch noted.

 

"If you replace sugar with cinnamon, it will decrease sugar intake," Effie explained.

 

"Right. Health nut," Haymitch muttered. He should have known a former model like her would be particular about what she consumed. "What's matcha?"

 

"Powdered green tea leaves. It really is – Oh! You should import it from the City. You'll be able to sell them in your store." 

 

"And why would I do that? Nobody is gonna get 'em. Nobody here knows what the hell it is."

 

"You don't know that," she argued.

 

"What'd you order when you were here the last time?"

 

He drummed his fingers lightly on the table. His eyes darted behind her shoulders once in a while, watching the crowd.  The waiter from earlier approached their table, drinks in hand, and placed it in front of them.

 

"Strawberry tea. I taught them how to make it. Now, look, it’s on the menu," she gestured at the bored. 

 

"Revolutionary," he said flatly.

 

Haymitch stared at his cup of coffee and contemplated emptying the contents of his flask into it. He was already reaching for his jacket when he decided otherwise. He would still need to drive home.

 

"What shall we name this, Miss Trinket?" 

 

"Cinnamon spiced tea," Effie answered without missing a beat. "Although, there is nothing special about this. Matcha on the other hand... Let me convince, Haymitch here to order some matcha powder, yes?" 

 

"Are you a consultant in this coffee shop?" he shot at her once the boy had left their side. “Moonlighting behind my back, are you?”

 

Effie smiled good-naturedly and took a sip of her tea. He watched the way the tip of her tongue darted out to lick the remnants of tea on her lower lip.

 

"I've worked with you for a few months now and I know next to nothing about you. Tell me about yourself."

 

"Tell me about yourself..." Haymitch repeated with a scoff. "Nothin' interesting."

 

"Oh, come now. There has to be _something_. I'm quite certain that I will be able to find something interesting about you," Effie declared.

 

The gleam in her eyes told him that she fully intend to see this through.

 

"You have years on you. Thirty? Forty years?" she asked. "There has to be a story or two worth telling."

 

He shrugged, and traced the rim of his cup with his finger.

 

"How long have you had the store? That's a safe question, isn't it? I'm not prying too much," she offered him a gentle smile.

 

No, he wanted to tell her, it wasn't a safe question. It wasn't a good place to start. The store and his past were inexplicably linked. Talking about the store would open the way into questions about his past.

 

"How long have _you_ been modelling?" he retorted.

 

Haymitch looked away. He realised that he was not making it easy for her, that this was a two-way street but he was out of his depth. He ran a hand through his hair. He had never done this before. He had never sat in a coffee shop with a woman – a _beautiful_ woman – to just _talk._

 

He wasn't sure what she wanted exactly. A connection was very vague. Was it friendship that she was looking for? Because a part of him had no desire to just merely be her friend. He wanted more, and yet the emotional entanglement was not what he was keen on either. He wanted something physical but he doubted she was that sort of woman and he didn't want to let her down. There was a strong, unexplainable need that he not disappoint her and he wasn't sure if he could do that.

 

 

"Look," he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, alright. That was – I don't do this, sweetheart."

 

He stood up, his chair scraping noisily against the floor.

 

She did, too, taken aback by this abrupt turn of events.

 

"No, please," she curled her fingers on his wrist. "I – I just want – _need_ – someone to talk to, someone... other than my therapist."

 

That stopped him and he looked at her. That was the first time he had heard about a therapist. He rested his palm on the table, thinking it through before he slowly settled back in his chair.

 

He pulled his cup back towards him and took a gulp.

 

He understood that need all too well. He had been in a room with a therapist countless times, forced to endure her sympathetic stares and false understanding when he didn't think anyone really knew what he was going through. He wanted a friend back then, too. He had Chaff. He wasn't sure if Effie had a friend like that.

 

"I've got the store for a couple of years," he murmured, "years that I don't count on anymore."

 

Effie regarded him for a minute. Certain that he would not bolt, she sat across from him once more.

 

Without any of prompting from his end, Effie started talking. It made him wonder how long she had kept it close to her heart, letting it fester inside her soul because he let her talk for hours, only interrupting when he thought she needed his help to continue.

 

"For as long as I can remember, I was in numerous beauty pageant. I had contracts since I was five. My mother did everything for me. When I turned eighteen, it was not a surprise to my family or to anyone really, that Victoria's Secret approached me and offered me a position. It was the natural path to take."

 

She raised her cup of tea and took a sip before setting it down and stirring the cinnamon stick absent-mindedly.

 

"It was a good life until recently. For years, my life was all about fashion shows after fashion shows, parties and travelling. I went from one city to another. I basked in the attention. I love having the eyes of men and women on me. I was treated like a VIP," she gave a wan smile. "I was invited to exclusive events. I had everything; a life, a career, a boyfriend. Now..."

 

"Now, you're in a backend, boring town trying to lay low while your boyfriend's gone missing," he finished it for her.

 

"You remembered that about him."

 

"Sure. I remember thinkin' that if I've got a girl like you, I wouldn't go missing," he chuckled. "It's that guy, right? Seneca Crane? Weird beard and all? Saw it when Johanna searched you on that Google thing." 

 

Haymitch didn't shy away from her piercing stare. His fingers traced the wood grain of the table, waiting for her to confirm it.

 

"Yes," she sighed. "I met Seneca years ago at a fashion show. He was a model too with a famous agency with all the big brands to his name. I was young, barely twenty, and he took an interest in me. I .... I fell head over heels for him. We were good together. We were looked up to with admiration. You have to understand," she tried to explained, "in our industry, where I was from people don't stay with a partner for very long. People change partners as fast as fashion changes but not us. Seneca and I remained with each other for years. I felt lucky, Haymitch. I felt... _special._ We defied all the odds, we were going to be together forever," she laughed a little hysterically at this point and in a whisper, she revealed, "I was going to marry him. If he asked, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. We were already living together, a marriage would have made it all the more complete. I wanted it all – a grand wedding, a pretty dress, our names in the magazines, and people to talk about our wedding for months to come. I was a fool."

 

"If you're looking for comfort, sweetheart, everyone's a damn fool at some point in their life," he smirked.

 

She sniffed and smiled.

 

"There was a scandal," she said. "It blew over the fashion industry. He was sleeping with one of the young models - someone he mentored - and impregnated her. When news came to light, he panicked and asked her to get rid of the child. She did. She _did._ "

 

She looked away. 

 

"He cheated on you," his brows furrowed, "and you come out here? You should have given that asshole a piece of your mind. Why'd you run away? It's not your damn fault." 

 

He was angry. He was angry for her. He almost wished Seneca Crane had not gone missing so he could… He didn’t know. Confront him?

 

"I wish that was all there was to it. I wish it ended with him just cheating on me. I could have walked away from that. My life would be easier," she chuckled, bitter and spiteful, and so unlike the woman he knew.

 

"Have you any idea what that man said in an interview? He said that he was pressured to get rid of the baby, on national television. Of course, since we were together, naturally, people assumed that it was _me_ who pressured him into it, that I put the woman through that. It was so easy how the focus turned on _me_ from then on. He told me, the nerves of him," she snorted, "my reputation would help us out of this mess."

 

"It is not my mess, is it? I was not the one sleeping around. He wanted to marry me after that. I have waited for years for him to ask him and when it happened it was so... It was so... _terrible._ He thought that by marrying him, I would be saving him, his reputation and his career. Saving him was the last thing I wanted. It was a mess, Haymitch. He made the proposal public. He dropped hints and told the media of it. It was sneaky though. It might just pressurise me into saying yes to save face. It brought too much attention on myself and none of them was good."

She paused and took a deep breath. Haymitch beckoned to the waiter and ordered another fresh cup of tea for her. By the time the tea arrived, she was practicing some breathing technique that was all too familiar to him and was decidedly calmer than before.

 

"That same year, my contract with Victoria’s Secret ended. It was not renewed. Of course, they told me it was my age. Models get retired after a certain age, you know."

 

He didn't. He knew nothing about the kind of life she led; the glamour, the blitz, the madness for fame. His life was bombs going off, blood and limbs torn off. His life involved nightmares that kept him awake at night. His life was about surviving, just one more day at a time.

 

"But I knew better, of course. I had my suspicion," Effie went on. "It was confirmed when I had people coming up to me telling me that I have reached my prime. Younger, prettier models were brought in. I was rocked with self-doubt. I was never that way. It even made me wonder if that was the reason Seneca sought someone else. Were we together too long that the romance fizzled out? Did he grow bored with me? Was I not beautiful enough for him? He was my friend and my lover, and the only one I knew in a cutthroat world. We used to share everything together and not only did I lose a lover, Haymitch, I lost a friend, someone I could talk to."

 

"Sometimes, alone at night, I wonder if I was the cause of that child's death. Perhaps, our relationship was a source of pressure for him. Perhaps, I had expected too much for him. I did demand that he fix his mistake. I just never thought it would involve a child's life."

 

"His mistakes are his own,” he said gruffly. “It's got nothin' to do with you." 

 

“I’ve been a model all my life. Now that it’s over, I have no idea what to do with it. I still wish… I still wish to go back of course. Modelling is something I’m good at but I can’t at the moment. It has to be perfectly timed,” she stared at her tea. “I have to let this scandal,” she spat the word, “die down, but not too long, of course, or people might forget about me.” 

 

People in the city might forget her but he didn’t think anyone in this town would. Peeta wouldn’t. Johanna, for all the disagreement they got into, wouldn’t simply forget her. He wouldn’t.

 

“When you’re leaving, you better tell me way ahead of time so I can find a replacement, someone to manage the damn accounts,” he joked.

 

She raised her head, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

 

“I will miss this place,” she admitted.

 

“You won’t for long. You’ll forget all ‘bout this old town once you’re back in the City. It’s your home, and the thing about home, sweetheart, is you won’t miss any other place once you’re back in it.”

 

“I hope so.”

 

"After all that shit, he just left you?" he asked.

It was bugging him. 

 

"Language," she clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "Seneca couldn't deal with the bad publicity or the stress, so yes, I woke up one day and he was gone. The bed was empty. There was a note to say that he was sorry and that he didn’t want to cause me anymore anguish. Again, when the media caught wind of it they were quick to assume that the fallout was due to me, that I rejected his marriage proposal and left him broken hearted. He's the victim in the narrative, of course." 

 

“Screw the media. It’s always the hottest stories that sell, yeah? That’s all there is,” he frowned. “That boyfriend of yours, he doesn’t deserve you, sweetheart. You should have kicked him out in the first place.”

 

It surprised him when she laughed a little that.

 

“I pictured it a lot, truthfully, kicking him out and throwing all his clothes out of the window. I fantasized about it. I – He is not a bad person. He was sweet on me. He was attentive and caring, and …. He made a mistake during a moment of weakness and a whole lot of bad decisions from it. He paid the price. He is still paying the price. Wherever he is, I think he still lives with the guilt.”  

 

He eyed her sceptically. He wouldn’t be so forgiving. He wasn’t sure if she had forgiven Crane, but she was… indifferent about him, he suspect.

 

“I have good memories from my time in the city. Like you said, it is my home. It is not all bad. Life is different there. It is fast-paced and it is everyone for themselves but I have good memories of myself and my family, and I choose to remember only the ones that made me happy.”

 

“What you are doing right now… Has it occurred to you, sweetheart, that your boyfriend’s not the only one who went missing? You’re doing the disappearing act, too. You’re missing… from _your_ world.”

 

"I suppose so," Effie said quietly. "I suppose you’re right. Except for one thing,” her gaze flickered to his, “he is _not_ my boyfriend. It is too broken... Too.. He is no one to me anymore."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! Effie's story. I am a little nervous about her back story so I hope it makes sense. I don't think Effie would leave the city for something like being cheated on by her boyfriend. She's stronger than that but I think she would need some time to herself if it's something bigger, and an accumulation of it all sent her to this town. I know, I like to use Seneca as a plot devise, before you think I hate that character, I don't. i actually think Seneca is, despite being a game maker, good at heart, and paid with his life for his moment of weakness.
> 
> So tell me what you think of them at the coffee shop? Or Haymitch nearly running off? Or Effie's story. Leave your thoughts in the review.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter but i think this is the one some of you have been waiting for so I hope you’ll have a fun time reading this :)

** Chapter 8 (Effie) **

The tension and the agitation she felt while recounting her past was slowly ebbing away. Effie released a breath, a smile stretched across her lips.

She felt calmer and lighter as if the weight of her shame had melted into nothing. There was something therapeutic to be able to share _her_ side of the story with someone other than her therapist or her sister, someone she consider a friend.

It was only when Haymitch shifted in his seat to have his coffee refilled by the waiter that she glanced in his direction.

The calm was short-lived. The risk of unburdening herself to someone was the judgment that followed. She watched him warily, waiting for him to form his opinion of her. Would he think her problem trivial or that she had overreacted?

He had his eyes fixed at something or someone behind her shoulder so she turned to look.

The coffee shop was beginning to get crowded with people. Brutus and Gloss had just entered the place. The moment Gloss noticed Haymitch he nudged Brutus next to him whose eyes darted from Haymitch to Effie, and then he snickered. Brutus lifted his hand in a mock salute before finding a table.

"Friends of yours? Effie asked. "I've met them once before. They seem like nice people. Gloss is a very charming man."

"I'm sure he is," Haymitch muttered under his breath.

"We could .... We could invite them over if you like," she offered.

She was trying to be nice, giving him an opportunity to socialise, and perhaps, she thought, Haymitch might want some male company.

"No," he said.

"Are you alright, Haymitch?" she asked, reaching across the table to rest her hand on his.

All he did was to stare at the hand covering his, as if it was such a foreign sight. Her fingers twitched and she pulled her hand back, feeling decidedly foolish.

Haymitch was a complicated man and that certainly made him interesting. She wanted to figure him out. She wanted time to peel back the layers to get to the man underneath this gruff – and at times, charismatic – exterior.

 _Be careful,_ the warning came unbidden. _Remember the reason you agreed to work with him._  

"Come on," he stood up abruptly.

He tossed some money on the table and strode out before she could say anything. Effie hurried after him, trying to keep up with his long strides. She went around to the passenger side and got on the truck just as he started the engine.

She was beginning to wonder if it was something she said, something from her past that had set him off because clearly something did not sit right.

 _That's not possible,_ she decided. Haymitch was fine when she was talking to him. It was only when – _Oh._

"Is there a story with Brutus and Gloss?" Effie ventured to ask.

He threw a glance in her direction.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "You can say that. They just remind me of... guilt," he murmured the last past so softly Effie wasn't sure she had heard it right.

Effie watched him out of the corner of her eyes. The tension was thick in the truck. It was not something he was willing to talk about and it would be folly to push him. She had bared her past and opened up to him, but she did so without expecting him to do the same to her.

All she wanted was a friend.

All she wanted was to get to know the man she spent quite a lot of her time with, and it wasn't a futile night. She learnt that he took his coffee black. She learnt that he didn't like the crowd and he found it difficult to have a conversation with everyone else talking around them. She also learnt that Haymitch was a great listener and as just she discovered, there was something between him, Brutus and Gloss but that would be a story for another time, _if_ he ever deemed her worthy enough to share it with.

She had the impression that it would take a lot of trust before Haymitch would ever share any part of his life, and he would not do it with just anyone.

"I apologise for asking you to the coffee shop. You didn't like it and I insisted."

"I could have said no," he muttered.

"Yes, well... Maybe you were being polite."

“You ever seen me be polite?”

She laughed lightly, “No, but – “

“Yeah, exactly," he pointed out with another careless shrug, "maybe I wanted some time with you outside of the store.”

That statement blindsided her for a split second. All she could do was blink, the words lodged in her throat.

Haymitch made a right turn after the intersection and drove into Capitol Street. She was still trying to formulate a reply when he turned into her drive way.

The truck came to a stop. The engine was turned off, amplifying the silence.

"You have trouble opening the door or something?" Haymitch asked with a note of amusement. "Get out. I'll get your bicycle down from the back."

"Come in," she found herself saying, surprising them both.

"It's late," he answered, watching her.

"Since when did you care about that? I thought you keep odd hours."

Haymitch smirked and pushed the truck door open.

She did the same on her end and waited for him to come around with her bicycle which he propped against the wall before coming in.

To say she was nervous was putting it mildly. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. She had never invited him in before. He came into her house to deliver her goods and out of politeness she would offer him tea which they would take in her kitchen. Haymitch being in her house on Friday evenings had a purpose. What purpose was there to inviting him in now?

This was different. She _knew_ this was different and wondered if he thought it, too.

She had shared her past with him and showed her the part of her that she had left behind when she settled into this town. Whether or not either of them wanted to admit it, something had shifted. She found that it was easy and comfortable to share it with Haymitch and he had not judged her, he had not dismissed her problems as unimportant when the problems in this town ran deeper than a woman losing her fame.

Haymitch walked into the kitchen with an ease of someone who was used to being there. He leaned against the counter.

Taking the glass from the cupboard, Effie poured wine for them both and handed a glass to him.

He accepted it with a raise of his eyebrow. "Not tea?"

"Well...."

"If you get me drunk, sweetheart, I won't be able to drive home," he said even though they both knew it would take more than a glass of wine to get him truly drunk. "Ever thought of that?"

"Do you want to?" Effie asked with a tilt of her head.

She was playing a dangerous game but perhaps it was all the spice tea or this one sip of wine or perhaps, it was the relieve of being able to _share_ something she had kept to herself that was getting to her head.

Effie stood resolute and proud, and did not shy away from his intense gaze as it roamed over her before he mirrored her stance and tilted his head to the side. His stare was burning and calculating. His grey irises had darkened.

He downed his drink in one go.

"I do believe one should savour the taste of wine instead of – Oh," she gasped softly.

Nothing else mattered then.

He was kissing her quite insistently and her gasp gave him an opportunity to slide his tongue over hers, swirling and sucking on it.

She was still holding on to her own glass of wine until he pried it off her fingers and set it down without a care. Her now free hand settled on the back of his head and she fisted his hair. He hissed and pushed against her, their teeth clicking.

He pushed and she pulled, he tugged and she tugged harder.

She bit on his bottom lip and felt a swell of pride when he moaned into her mouth. Haymitch gripped the back of her thighs and lifted her up on the kitchen table. He broke the kiss briefly as nudged her legs apart and stepped between them. With a hand on his waist, his shirt bundled in her fist, she pulled him close.

He smirked.

She tilted her head up, offering herself up for him to kiss and he leaned forward only to pause slightly. Their lips barely brushed against each other. He exhaled and she inhaled, breathing him in. It made her dizzy and she brought a hand between them until it found the open collar of his shirt and she gave it another impatient tug.

He resisted.

"If I kiss you again, I ain’t going to stop," he murmured, his eyes boring into hers.

"Don't try to run away from me again, Haymitch," she slid her hand from his collar to the nape of his neck.

A flash of uncertainty flitted over her eyes. She hated it. She wanted to sound confident, be the woman she used to.

Her moment of glory had passed. She was not young or beautiful, and Seneca had found someone else.

Why would Haymitch waste his time with her?

She used to be on top of the world. She used to have men and women _obsessing_ over her, and now, in front of Haymitch, the sliver of self-doubt began to trickle its way into her again. She resented this feeling. She was better than this.

"Kiss me," she demanded in a rough, commanding voice.

She _needed_ him to want her. It was a terrible way to prove her worth to herself but -

"Kiss me, Haymitch," Effie insisted, unconsciously making it sound both like an order and a plea.

Haymitch frowned at the tone of her voice and the change in her demeanour. Still, his palm brushed lightly against the side of her hair before his fingers curled over the nape of her neck, coaxing her to tilt her head back as he held her in place.

He crashed his lips to hers. It would bruise. She didn't care.

From the moment his lips touched hers and from the moment his hands ghosted the side of her ribs, she never intended for him to stop. She wanted his lips and his hands all over her.

When he lifted her up from the table and set her down, their lips never left each other even as she led him up the stairs towards her bedroom, a miracle, she thought, if ever there was any.

As she lay on her back and stared into his eyes, Haymitch covered her body with his.  She surrendered herself to him and to the feeling of his naked skin touching hers, his warm breath coming out in ragged burst against her cheek and soon, she was panting his name, nails clawing on his back.

His touch lighted her skin and set a slow, roaring fire deep in her stomach. She had not felt this way in the _months_ since she left the city.

She would let him burn her, foolish as it was.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they've acted on the sexual tension! Did Effie act smartly? Was it foolish to kiss Haymitch? How will Haymitch react?


	9. Chapter 9

** Chapter 9  **

Haymitch was aware of two things.

He was lying on his stomach on a bed that was too soft and too comfortable and there was a warm body next to him.

His eyes flew open in alarm and he found himself staring directly at the sleeping face of Effie Trinket. Haymitch became very still, not even daring to breathe. He continued staring at her, noting the way her eyelashes rested gently against her cheeks in her sleep, and the peaceful expression on her face.

 _Lucky,_ he thought to himself, to be able to sleep without ghosts of the past haunting her dreams.

Speaking of the past, the events of yesterday rushed back to him; seeing her modelling photos on Google, getting coffee with her, listening to her past, driving her home in his truck, getting invited in and being offered wine.....

She had not wanted him to leave, a fact that surprised him. She had asked if he wanted to, tilted her head to the sides with a glint of a challenge in her eyes that he could not resist. She had been tempting him all night with the way she licked the tea from her bottom lip, the way she touched his hand and the way her dress rode up her thighs when she slid into the passenger seat of his truck. So he had given in to temptation and he had kissed her, and she tasted of cinnamon and tea and wine, better than he imagined.

When he thought the kiss might lead to something more and escalate into something they were both not prepared for, he had tried to be fair to her and he had tried to be the good guy by giving her a chance to walk away and to put a stop to it. He wasn’t wrong to think that she wanted it as much as he did. The sexual tension between them was starting to become unbearable to him and his right hand had been kept busy since he crossed paths with her especially on nights when he needed a distraction the alcohol was not giving.

But this wasn’t just his imagination anymore. This wasn’t just some scenario he concocted in his head in the middle of the night as he lay sprawled on his sofa. This was real. He was in her bed and she was sleeping next to him. 

Haymitch pressed his face on the pillow and even that smell of her hair. When he found himself in another woman's bed, his first instinct was to sleep so he would usually leave before they rouse which meant he should have left ten minutes ago. The fact that he was still here in her bed was puzzling to him.

Leaving would mean that he didn't have to deal with any awkwardness except he had just slept with his employee whom he would still have to face at the store later.

He gave a muffled groan.

He didn't know if they were friends or merely colleagues. All he knew was that he wanted to take her to bed and he had. He had wanted something physical without the emotional entanglement but clearly, he had dug a hole for himself because she really deserved better than a man who slept with her only to pretend it meant nothing.

He felt her warm hand on the skin of his naked shoulder and jerked his head to look at her.

"Do you do a lot of thinking in the morning?" Effie asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

He had kept her up all night, a feat he was actually proud of.

"Thinking 'bout my options here," he mumbled.

Her brows furrowed together and she pushed herself up on her elbow to watch him. Shamelessly, his eyes were immediately drawn to her breasts. He resisted the urge to latch his lips to a nipple.

"You're thinking of leaving," she said calmly.

"Yeah," he grunted. "That's what I do – I run away."

She gave him a faint smile.

"It doesn't have to be serious," she said quietly, reaching out to tug a strand of hair behind his ears, a gesture so tender it almost made him flinch. "This could be fun – you and me. I – I'm not ready for ..."

She wasn’t ready for anything serious and truth be told, neither was he. It had never been something he was actively looking for since he came back from…

“You don’t want a relationship,” she declared simply.

He snorted. That was smart of her to turn it around back to him.

"Me?" Haymitch echoed her stance and propped himself up. He couldn't quite believe they were having this conversation when he usually tried to avoid this sort of talk. "What 'bout you, sweetheart? You want to jump into a relationship after your last boyfriend cheated on you?"

She glowered at him for bringing it up.

"No, you’re right," she crossed her arms which only served to push her breasts together and made him swallow at the sight of it. "But I've had my fun before Seneca. I can have it now after him. You want me, don't you?"

 _Do I want her?_ He almost laughed at that question.

"Do you want to have sex with me in the future, Haymitch?" She frowned, impatient at his lack of response. "We might as well settle this once and for all instead of dealing with the awkwardness. We do see each other almost every day."

"Yeah," he nodded and clarified when she raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, I want to have – Again. We should have sex... _more_ sex."

When sober, he was usually so much more articulate than this but this was a question no woman had ever asked him and since she was asking, he might as well be honest. Yesterday night was great after all, the best for him in a long time.

"That settles it then," she declared. "I want you, too, you know. The things you do to me yesterday..."

She smirked at him, letting the images from yesterday fill his mind.

"That's it?" Haymitch asked in disbelief.

Surely it couldn't be this _easy?_

"Is there something else you want to discuss?"

"No – Yeah, I mean, that's it? I want to fuck you and you want to do the same so we just... continue?"

"Oh, must you be so vulgar," she clicked her tongue. "We are two consenting adults, yes? And we enjoy each other's company. I don't see anything wrong with it."

"People don't do it here in this town."

"People do it all the time in the city - friends with benefits."

He scrunched his nose at the term.

"So it's just fucking right?"

He had to clarify because this was too good to be true and he wanted to be _sure_.

"Yes, Haymitch,” she threw him a look at his choice of language, “just sex. No need to run away now."

He let out a breath and scratched his cheek, thinking it through. He would be a fool to pass it up, a damn fool especially after months of eyeing and imaging what she was like under the sheets.  

"Come here," he beckoned. "Come closer."

His hand slipped under the covers and he rested in on her thigh, rubbing his thumb in circles. Tossing her hair over one shoulder, she scooted closer and pressed her breasts against his chest when he curled an arm around her waist. With his free hand, he coiled his fingers on the back of her neck to bring her lips down to meet his.

He was on his back with Effie sprawled over his chest and they spent a while kissing, touching and letting their hands roamed over each other.

"Gives you a thrill to be fucking your boss, yeah?" Haymitch whispered in her ear as he teasingly brushed his finger against her core.

Effie stilled and pulled back slightly which did not stop him from kissing her. He ran his lips down the column of her throat and relocated both hands to knead her ass. He lifted his hips up, pressing herself against her and seeking pressure.

He was shamelessly desperate but she was beautiful and hot and most importantly naked against him.

"Maybe that's _your_ fantasy," she winked and wedged her hand between them, inching it lower until he made a grab for it.

In one swift move, he manoeuvred them until she was lying down on the mattress. He ground his hips against her stomach, a palm resting on her cheek as he stared down at her. The pupil of her eyes was blown wide clouded with lust and there was a sparkle in her blue eyes. Her lipstick from yesterday had smudged on the corner of her lips and her hair was in a mess, and there was nothing more attractive that the sight of her in her natural state, fresh out of bed.  

Crane was fucking stupid, he thought to himself. She was exquisite and she was here in bed with him, letting him do terribly dirty things to her the night before so he kissed her, deep and rough, and he told himself that it had nothing to do with him laying his claim on her.

This was supposed to mean nothing. They both agreed on it.

Haymitch trailed his mouth down her chest, to her stomach and disappeared under the quilt all the while planting light kisses along her legs - legs that he had been eyeing since the day he ran into her jogging past his house – and retraced his path back up to her inner thigh. When he finally pressed his lips where she was wet and aching for him, she shivered and bucked her hips unconsciously.

With a hand, he pressed down on her hip and grunted something unintelligible when she tangled her fingers in his hair to keep him there. He kissed and licked and sucked, working his mouth and tongue, and letting his fingers play with her hardened nipple until she was panting and crying out his name.

It made him throb to see her lose control so he covered her body with his, positioning himself at her entrance, ready to take her again when her phone went off.

They froze.

"Fuck, no," he pressed his forehead against her shoulder and mumbled against his skin. "I need to finish."

"It's Johanna," she said and gasped loudly when despite it, he still pushed himself inside her, taking her unaware.

She held him close, grounding herself to him.

"How the fuck would you know?"

"I set a specific ringtone to each contact."

She was certified crazy. Who had the time for such trivial things?

He tried to grab her hand but she was quicker and had snatched the phone from the nightstand.

"Put the damn phone away."

"Don't move," she hissed as she gripped his waist to stop him from pounding into her and answered the phone. "Yes, Johanna?"

It was unfair, he thought. He was hard and throbbing, and being _still_ inside her was the worst. He wanted the friction and the pressure from her walls clamping down on him.

"This is torture," he complained, grunting into her ear.

"I will be there soon, Johanna. No, I - " Effie sucked in a breath when Haymitch distracted himself by palming her breast and scraping his teeth lightly against the bud. "I had a migraine. I took some pills and overslept. I apologise. I'll be at the store in half an hour."

He was determined to set every nerve of her body on fire so he kept his hand busy on her chest and with another, Haymitch rubbed his thumb against her clit and smirked when her fisted the bed sheet with her eyes squeezed shut in an effort to control the pleasure.

Slowly, he began thrusting into her, in and out, in and out, groaning at the sensation rolling over him. The way her voice wavered as she spoke to Johanna made him feel proudly smug.

"The longer you keep....  talking to me, the longer it will take for me to get ready," she breathed into the phone, and Haymitch was sure Johanna would have picked up on the change in her tone. "Goodbye, now."

She all but tossed the phone aside, wrapped her legs tight around his waist, her hands around his neck and urged him to go faster.

Her voice was throaty and raw, and she wanted him to go _deeper_ and _harder_ and _‘oh, that feels so good, Haymitch.’_

He kept grinding into her until they found a rhythm, rocking against each other only to lose it as they reach their climax. Effie dug her fingers into his shoulder when he started pounding erratically into her. She came with a cry, back arched and nails scraping against his scalp and he followed with a guttural moan and a curse, before he slumped on her, feeling the pleasure rippled through him.

“That was fucking great,” he mumbled into the crook of her neck.

He felt more her nod against him, too spent to talk.

Haymitch rolled off and tried to get his breathing under control. Next to him, he felt the bed dipped as Effie swung her legs over it. A ping went off so she snatched her phone and laughed quietly.

"What?" He asked.

"Peeta sent me a snap," she turned around to show him.

It was a photo of the cash register where Effie usually sat with a time stamp on it. Peeta's meaning was clear. She was late.

Both Peeta and Effie had tried to get him to download the app but he had flatly refused. He never understood it. Being friends with her on Facebook was a mistake in itself. She enjoyed 'mentioning' him in comments sections of videos she thought would interest him. He had ignored it all.

Shaking his head, he said, "You don't have to come in today. I'm your boss. I say you can stay here all day. You’ve got my word I won’t cut your pay."

He reached out and started running his hand up and down her rib cage. He hooked another around her thigh to tug her closer to the bed.

"I'll be too sore," she gently removed his hand away. A curious gaze flickered to the expose scar running from his stomach to his side and Haymitch turned slightly to his right, blocking it from her view. "We _both_ need to get to work."

He sighed but kept his eyes on her to admire the view as she walked towards the ensuite bathroom. Grabbing his clothes, he went down to the kitchen, washed his face at the sink and started getting dressed.

Having had delivered her groceries enough time by now that he knew where she kept her coffee powder so he helped himself to it.

By the time she came down, he was drinking his coffee. Effie paused at the doorway to the kitchen, surprised to see him casually sitting on the dining chair, mug in hand. The sight of her made him froze with the mug halfway to his lips, the gears in his mind turning a mile a minute.

The look on her face made him uncomfortable so he took his cue and placed his mug in the sink.

"No coffee in your kitchen even if we're just fucking?" he clarified because what was going on between them was a territory he had never ventured in. He wasn’t sure what the social convention for this sort of thing was "Sorry, sweetheart, only had one night stands. Guess, it's the same sort of stuff, yeah? In and out of the house."

He made to walk past her but she rested a hand on his arm.

"I don't mean it like that. I was – I was just surprised that's all. I thought you left."

"We're going to the same damn place," he muttered under his breath. "Makes no sense to drive off without you."

He spent the entire drive battling the itch to touch her and picturing her hand in between his legs or better yet her mouth. That would be thrilling, he supposed, but didn’t dare to ask her for it yet.

The perfume she wore was filling up his entire truck which was not helping matters because he wanted to bury his nose on the skin of her neck and inhale her in. He swallowed hard and kept his hands firmly on the steering wheel.

Effie filled the drive from her house to the store with small talks, telling him about some new shows on the television or some recipe she found on the internet that she wanted to try.

"You know what's funny?" She turned in her seat to look at him. "I _hardly_ ever did any cooking in the City. I used to eat out at restaurants or sometimes Seneca and I - "

She broke off and fell silent.

"Well, anyway," she cleared her throat. "My sister is very surprised by this. She thinks I am a completely changed person!"

He drove past the traffic junction and into town. By the time Haymitch parked his truck in front of the store, Effie was telling him about her sister even if he showed no sign of interest to know anything about Eirene Trinket.

"Did you two come together?" Johanna eyed them with an arm propped on a display shelf.

"Saw her walking over," Haymitch muttered, "so I gave her a lift."

"But Effie doesn't walk. Don't you usually cycle?" Peeta chimed in.

"Oh, no, not today," Effie said hurriedly, giving them a charming smile. "My right leg doesn't feel too good today. I think I might have pulled a muscle last night."

"Makes me wonder what you were up to yesterday," Haymitch flashed Effie a grin while on his way over to the counter. "Should have stayed at home in that condition, yeah? You need a ride home later today?"

He kept the question casual and the hope out of his voice.

She could say no to that but he wanted her to take up his offer. He wanted a repeat of yesterday _and_ this morning. He might be asking for too much and too soon but the sex was amazing. The way she touched him and kissed him was unlike anything, and when he buried himself deep inside her, he forgot everything else except the feeling of her squirming underneath him.

He wanted it again. He wanted her and he was so fucking glad that they agreed for it not to be a one-time thing because he didn't think he could be in the same room as her without wanting to jump on her.

"I thought you told Johanna you had a migraine?" Peeta interrupted before Effie could answer.

Johanna was still eyeing them, her eyes trailing from Haymitch to Effie and then back to Haymitch again.

"Haymitch is wearing yesterday's clothes, Peeta," Johanna crossed her arms. "Did you guys finally fuck?"

Peeta was visibly startled by that question and then he began to _really_ look at them. His eyes widened.

"I don't need to know," Peeta said hurriedly and turned to Johanna. " _We_ don't need to know. It's their business."

" _I_ need to know if it's going to be a problem _here_ where we work," Johanna brows furrowed.

"There's nothing - "

Effie was cut off when the bell rang, signalling a customer. The conversation stilled abruptly. Haymitch's raised his head to see Katniss and Prim standing at the door, looking uncertainly at the group.

Peeta wiped his hands on the front of his apron and stepped forward.

"Do come in. We were in the middle of a - " he glanced at them "- meeting."

Katniss strode over to the counter where Haymitch was and dropped her bag on it.

"I have strawberries," Katniss informed.

Peeta came to a stand next to Haymitch and peered inside the bag, picking a strawberry and then another.

"I could use this for my cake."

Taking one of the strawberries, Haymitch bit into it to have a taste which was evidently a mistake. His thoughts went reeling back to that time when Effie had told them about strawberry-flavoured condom. He felt himself twitch and his stomach tightened at the thought of her mouth on him. He wondered how that would feel like. He had always wondered the way she would look while sucking him.

"If Peeta wants it, I'll take it," he winked at Katniss and collected the money from the cash register to pay the girl.

"I'll make strawberry cupcakes with this and I – I can send some to you," Peeta added. His cheeks had a slight red tinge to it.

"Oh, that would be lovely!" Prim squealed. "I love strawberry cupcakes."

"What about you?" Peeta asked the question to Katniss. "What do you like?"

"Cheese buns," Prim told him, answering on her sister's behalf.

Peeta nodded.

"Oh, hold on! I have something for you both," Effie said.

She disappeared to the back of the store and emerged minutes later with a Tupperware containing her banana soft serve she had brought to the store two days ago. She served them on a cone to both Katniss and Prim, handed another two to Johanna and Peeta and declared they could all have a break while she mend the store.

"You're being meddlesome," Haymitch accused, nodding his head at where Peeta was standing outside of the store talking to Katniss.

"I see the way he looks at her. There is _something_ there. He likes her," Effie said as if it was the most obvious thing, "and if I could help him along, there's nothing wrong with it. I am fond of him, you know. Look at them – young love," she sighed. "I remember what it feels like to be young and in love."

 _Before it breaks your heart,_ he added quietly.

"Yeah," he said gruffly. "The boy ain't doing shit. Nothing's going to happen if he says nothing to her. He needs to act on it."

"Like you did yesterday?"

He turned his head towards her.

"You wanted it, too," he pointed it out with a smirk and ran his hand on the back of her leg up to her ass. "You look at me like you want to rip my clothes off. I did us both a favour and it turned out good, yeah?"

He would have let his hand creep under her skirt if Johanna did not choose that moment to walk back into the store, grumbling under her breath about Peeta and Katniss and throwing up in her mouth.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Haymitch didn't leave! Which is good yes? And sleeping with each other isn't going to be just a one-time thing, which is also good, yes? Someone needs to tell Haymitch to control himself before he turns into an Effieholic. Do you think keeping it casual is the best choice for them? Please let me know what you think in the reviews!


	10. Chapter 10

** Chapter 10  **

Effie tried to maintain a sense of professionalism, to separate what was going on in the bedroom from the store.

She _tried._

She wasn't sure when exactly Haymitch grew an extra pair of limbs but whenever she was near him, his hands were everywhere. She resisted, of course. She told him to behave but there was something about being touched and something about being able to _finally_ touch him that was magnetic and thrilling and _addictive_. She had spent months sitting on her hands, just watching, admiring, lusting and telling herself again and again that she didn't need any of these complications that when it finally happened, none of them could put a lid on it.

Discretion was the only option left and even so, Peeta and Johanna were not stupid. They knew _something_ was going on after Johanna had accused them of sleeping together that one time. Peeta would smile indulgently at them when he caught them bickering and flirting and arguing as if he was secretly happy and pleased for them. Johanna would always make a point to wrinkle her nose in disgust when she walked in on just the both of them at the back of the store, or even when Effie was simply _just_ talking to Haymitch.

As for her, Effie enjoyed his company even if he could be brash and rude, and downright infuriating.

She enjoyed being the centre of his attention. She loved the rough kisses; raw and hungry, the way his stubble burn her skin when it rubbed against her cheek or her inner thigh. She loved how he touch her which often led to some heavy groping under the counter or in the truck when they had deliveries to make or supplies to pick up from the train station.

Johanna's cynical and snide, _"a supply run shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes, the train station is not_ that _fucking far,"_ had left her flustered with embarrassment and a tinge of guilt for being gone with Haymitch for almost an hour. Peeta had hid a smile as he carried the loads from the truck to the supply room at the back of the store.

Her sister had told her once, a long time ago, that a flame that burnt twice as bright burnt half as long, and truthfully, Effie was afraid that what was going on between Haymitch and her would die fast, that he would be sick of her soon. But she was high on him and she wasn't thinking with her head. She _couldn't_ think straight when his touch sent her blood running, when his mouth left her speechless.

When she was with him, he made her forget the feeling of worthlessness. Each time he took her to bed, he made it a point to show her that she was beautiful. He loved her body and it sent a tingle down her spine to be worshipped by him.

On some nights, when he was too exhausted to drive home, she would let him sleep in her bed. He didn't think it was a good idea but she could be very persuasive when she wanted to be, and on nights like those, her sleeping pills remain in the bottle at the back of  her medicine cabinet and his hip flask remained tucked in the pocket of his jacket.

Her favourite would always be the stolen kisses in the store which would sometimes lead to more than just kissing and fondling. It was the thrill of being discovered, the danger of a customer walking in on them that made it exciting.

Seneca would never have approved of this. With him, she had to behave and play the part of a perfect girlfriend for him and the society she was in but with Haymitch, she felt like a different person, someone other than herself. Perhaps, she had always been this way, docile and buried deep until he brought it out of her or perhaps, it was because she was in a town where people had no idea who she was.

"I'm leaving!" Johanna shouted. "No one's minding the store out front."

Effie slapped his hand away from under her skirt.

"I'll be out in a minute," he raised his voice so Johanna could hear him only to drop it the next second to murmur, "or ten."

"You are impossible," Effie laughed when he pulled her on him so that she ended up straddling him on the sofa they were sitting.

He ran his hands up her thighs just as Effie started to rock her hips teasingly against his.

"You can go home too, you know," he said. "Your hours are done."

She had not been leaving the store without him for the past weeks. Closing the store and leaving together with him had become _their_ routine and she didn't mind it that much, not when leaving the store after her shift ended meant going home to an empty house. Why should she? He was here and he was a good distraction from the loneliness.

“Maybe I will do just that,” she extricated herself from him and threw a teasing smile over her shoulder at him. “I’ll have an early night for once.”

Effie didn't get far. He grabbed her and pinned her against the wall, his fingers making fast work on the buttons of her blouse before he pushed it off her shoulder. He fumbled with the zipper on her skirt only to have to stop because she was tugging his jacket off, and that was when the envelopes fell out of the pocket.

It distracted them enough and Effie bent down to pick the envelopes.

One was from the military which it didn't surprise her that much. Over the few months, she had picked up on the fact that he had once served and she had attributed the scar on his stomach -something he _never_ talked about - to his time in it. The other was a white windowed envelope with an insignia that Effie recognised – Panem Insurance.

From the window of it, she caught a glimpse of a cheque inside bearing his name on it. Even if all she saw was a partial glimpse, _"Haym -"_ was still unmistakeably him.

The seal was already torn off which mean that he had read the accompanying letter, placed the cheques back in before stuffing them in his pocket.

He cleared his throat. Startled, Effie handed the envelopes back to him. He didn't take it from her.

"I'm sorry," she hurried to say. "I didn't mean to -"

They both knew it was an accident so he shrugged.

The mood in the room had shifted. She reached out to touch his arm but he stepped back and she felt self-conscious standing in front of him clad only in her bra with the zip of her half undone. As if he could sense that she was uncomfortable, Haymitch grabbed his jacket off the floor to put it around her to preserve her modesty.

"It's month end so … Those cheques comes every month," he nodded at the two envelopes in her hand. "You might as well go to the bank tomorrow morning... Cash that out for me. Cheque bearer's not cross for both, they'll give you the money, no problem."

He said that without looking at her. He was already walking towards the door leading to the main shop.

Puzzled at his behaviour, Effie pulled the cheques out of the envelopes and gasped when she saw total amount.

“What – What do you want me to do with this much money?"

She didn't think she was in any position to be handling his _personal_ finances and these cheques certainly seem very personal to her.

He glanced at her briefly over his shoulder.

"You're this store's book-keeper, yeah? Put that money in the store's account, easy," he said as if she should have known that. "In fact, you can do it from now on. No reason for me to be doing it anymore."

"Haymitch - "

He paused by the door with one hand on the knob.

"You asked once where I was gettin' the money to keep the store runnin'. From that," he spat and whatever the story was behind the cheque payments, Effie was absolutely certain it was not good.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter but nonetheless, I hope you like it and that you have questions! Effie's trying to guard her heart and be careful after Seneca and yet, she can't control herself with Haymitch. He's trouble for her! Tell me what you think! :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Haymitch sat in the truck with a hand hanging languidly out of the rolled down window and the engine on idle as he waited for her.

Effie was doing the closing and he could hear her humming to herself in the store. She turned off the lights, secured the cash register and was by the door, flipping the 'Open' sign to 'Close' before locking up the store.

When she finally slid inside with a carefree smile on her face, Haymitch put the truck in gear.

"You are coming over, yes?" she angled her body so that she was facing him.

"Not tonight," he answered, keeping his eyes on the road.

They had spent most of their nights together and the neighbours were starting to talk about his red pick-up truck parked in her driveway. He was probably only ever at home two or three nights out of the week. His own house felt foreign to him after weeks of stumbling into Effie's bed and sleeping with her. He didn't care about what people were saying. All he cared about was having her warm body to hold on to at night because admittedly, he slept better with her. He wasn't exactly sure why and he didn't want to think too much into it. He chalked it up to the fact that she probably left him too tired that he didn't need a bottle to fall asleep.

"Something wrong?" she asked. "I don't feel like spending the night alone."

"Maybe I need some time to myself," he said gruffly. "Can't be hanging around you all day and all fuckin' night."

"I don't like your tone."

And he didn't like her reprimanding him that way.

"Get a grip, Effie," he snapped. "You said it's just sex. I don't want sex tonight."

"Very well," she said through gritted teeth.

He had hurt her, he realised that. He knew he was being completely unreasonable but he felt… _unhinged._ He was trying to escape and to put some distance because she would have questions. He had seen the look on her face when she saw the cheques and Effie was a curious creature. She would have questions for him.

Haymitch chance a glance in her direction but she was staring out of the window. The radio deejay was talking about the on-going fashion week in the City, an event she would be a part of if she was still a Victoria's Secret Angel. He bit his tongue when he realised that that was probably why she didn't want to spend the night alone. The quite would remind her of what she was missing back home but with him around, it would take her mind off it.

He rested a hand on her thigh. With his thumb, he began to trace mindless pattern into her skin.

It got her attention.

"It's about those cheques, isn't it?"

He licked his lips.

"Yeah," he admitted. "You're wondering about it, aren't you? Right now? You want to know what it's about."

"And you don't want me to know," she nodded. "I understand, Haymitch. I know we all have something personal we keep to ourselves."

"It's got nothing to do with you, sweetheart. I still want you and … It's just… Not tonight, alright?"

Effie covered his hand with hers.

"We don't have to do anything," she said softly. "I don't like being alone. I don't like the thought of you alone."

Something went off at the back of his mind when she said that, an alarm bell alerting him to a potential problem. He didn't dwell too deeply into it. Instead, he scoffed at what she said.

"Been alone for a long time now."

"That is not true. You have Johanna and Peeta," she argued. "And not lately…. We have each other. The nights are not so bad with each other, is it?"

He looked at her and back at the road, saying, "Careful, sweetheart."

It was the thought of her alone in her house most likely obsessing over the fashion week and the thought of her perched on her sofa in front of that 50 inch flat screen television watching anything and everything that had to do with the fashion week, of people speculating about her disappearance and if she would still be relevant to the fashion industry should she ever make a comeback that drove him to make the offer.

"You can come over my place. We can have a drink."

He needed a drink and her house didn't have anything stronger than wine. Besides, at his house, he would be there to make sure it was _not_ the fashion week she was watching. There had to be some dull television drama.

"You know that I don't drink," Effie looked at him pointedly, "not those horrible things that you insist on drinking anyway."

"You can always have your damn tea," he said, "or wine. Think I got a bottle stashed somewhere. You leave my booze alone."

Effie mulled over his offer.

"Well, alright," she agreed at last. "If it's any assurance, I promise, I won't ask anything related to the insurance money …. Or about those letters. I will just drink my wine and watch some TV."

He gave her a nod of gratitude.

As he pulled into his driveway, he had a strong feeling that Effie Trinket would not be content to just laze around when she saw the state of his house. He mentally tried to prepare himself for the likelihood that she _might_ just start cleaning or worse, cooking in _his_ kitchen.

XxX

Alighting from the truck, Effie rummaged under the seat for the umbrella she had kept there when he started the routine of driving them both to work. It made him pause to watch her conduct herself with ease around him as if his truck was hers too.

He wondered if he was anything like that at her house.

"It ain't raining, sweetheart. Doesn't look like it might either," he felt compelled to point that out.

"Oh, it's not for the rain. The umbrella is a precautionary measure against your geese... In case they come too close."

He chuckled at her ridiculous behaviour. Walking over to her side, he took the umbrella from her.

"No need to be so violent. Nothing will happen to you while I'm here."

Walking past their pen, the geese started honking at the sight of him. Even in the safety of their pen, Effie still unconsciously moved closer to him which left him amuse.

"Why geese?"

"Why not?"

Effie remained standing at the threshold of the front door, her eyes taking in the sight of his house. His front door led to straight to the living room much like hers, and since she had been to his house twice before, it was appalling that she was acting as if the mess was something to be surprised about. She pursed her lips at the sight of it.

"Yeah, don't say it," he muttered as he kicked a bottle out of the way.

He left her standing where she was and made his way to the kitchen which was not as bad since he seldom spent his time in this part of the house. His bottle of whiskey was easily within reach but he had to search for the wine which he found eventually at the top shelf. He wedged the bottle under his arm and was about to leave when he paused by the doorway. He doubled back for a glass. He had never seen Effie drank anything straight from the bottle.

"All yours," Haymitch handed her the entire bottle of wine and the glass which he made sure was clean, "Go to town, sweetheart."

Smiling, she shook her head fondly at him. "The trick is to drink in moderation, just enough to feel tipsy but not too much to be drunk."

"What a fucking waste. The trick is to _let go_ ," he mocked her and knocked back his drink.

Haymitch slouched in his seat with his head leaning against the back of the sofa and his feet stretched out in front of him on the cluttered coffee table. The warmth spreading inside of him from the whiskey and the familiar burnt in his throat as it went down was comforting to him. It might just be an enjoyable, quiet night after all.

They drank in silence and he was halfway through the bottle when he felt Effie nudging the hand on his lap with her foot. She grinned at him when he glanced at her quizzically. She was stretched out on the sofa perpendicular to him so that she was facing him. He lifted his hand and the next thing he knew, her feet were on his lap.

She brought the wine to her lips. "Your house is a quite unsanitary. There's no theme either. Everything is... thrown together."

"It's rude ain't it to come to my house and comment 'bout its state?"

His hand fell on her ankle and he started rubbing his thumb absentmindedly on it. He _needed_ to touch her, any part of her, as if his skin yearned for the feel of her own.

"Perhaps," she flashed him a smile, "but I am quite surprised that you have not gotten ill from the state of your house."

"Don't be so dramatic. It's not _that_ bad. Hazelle comes 'round to clean every other week. Laundry, too. She does a thorough job."

"Oh," Effie raised an eyebrow. "Then it must be you who cannot keep a place clean."

"Gives Hazelle something to do, right?" he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Have you... Has she worked for you long?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Years, probably. Didn't keep count."

"You both know each other very well then? Johanna thinks... Well, she thinks you are sweet on her."

His brows furrowed at her question. Even half intoxicated, something was buzzing at the back of his mind at the nature of her question. It felt _off._

"Johanna says a lot of shit. Been telling Peeta we're fucking, hasn't she?"

"Which is, in fact the truth," Effie pointed out. "She's an observant young woman so there has to be some basis in her observation about you and Hazelle."

"Jealously really doesn't look good on you," he gave her a side-eye.

"I'm not – " Effie breathed deeply. "I am _not_ jealous. I just do not want to be a third party. If there is something going on between you and her... If you have feelings for her ... I _know_ what it's like to be - "

"It's nothing like that," Haymitch scowled, annoyed that there were having this conversation. "What I know 'bout her, everyone else in this Town knows as well. Live at the end of the street at the Seam with her kids, struggling to feed the kids and Johanna only thinks I'm sweet on her 'cause I never demand for the money she owes the store. You know that so what else you want to know?"

"I - "

"She's a hell of a woman," Haymitch went on if only to get under her skin, "very strict. Heard her scolding her kid once, very glad I wasn't the boy but yeah, sure, she shouted at me once when I vomited on the clothes she just washed. It pissed her the fuck off. You'd think with that kind of attitude she'll be - "

 _Fiery in bed,_ he nearly said but held his tongue in time. He was half sober not outright drunk to speak his mind out and that was something he didn't need to tell Effie.

It had only happened once and it had been awkward so they had mutually and silently worked out a schedule where Haymitch would not be home when she was at his place to clean. The only time they interacted was when he had to deliver her groceries.

"No women here ever caught your attention?"

He raised his eyes to meet hers.

"Why, sweetheart? Someone else here caught your attention? Gloss, maybe? You thought he's a charmer, told me about it even."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

" _Too_ charming," she replied, "and I'm wary of charming men. Seneca was charming to me. You never answered my question."

"I don't need the complication that comes with women," he muttered.

"And this?" Effie gestured between them.

"You said it wasn't going to be complicated. We _talked_ about this. It's about enjoying each other's company and having fun. You changed your mind? Cause if you do, you better tell - "

"No," she blinked and gave a shake of her head. "No, nothing's changed."

"Good," he said simply.

A part of him didn't truly believe her. She had been acting...Best not to think too much about it.

"Cause I like sleeping with you," his hand crept up her ankle towards her thigh and under her skirt just to drive the point home that that was all there was to it, for her sake and his. "Been fun, yeah?"

She took his hand away, laced their fingers together and rubbed her heel on his crotch teasingly. He slapped her foot away. He knew she was trying to change his mind and he was right when she placed her glass of wine on the table and crawled forward to straddle him.

Effie wound her arms around his neck. He held her waist and tilted his head back to look at her. Grinning, she kissed him soundly on his lips.

"I like it too," she whispered huskily in his ear and rocked her hips. "The best I've ever had. It's fun. You're fun to do."

He raised an eyebrow at that. It was so forward, and so uncharacteristic of her.

_It's the wine talking_

"No complications," she said firmly. "There won't be any."

It didn't sound convincing to his ears and if she was trying to convince herself of the same, then it was poorly done. That wasn't his problem. He didn't want to make it _his_ problem. Her feelings were her own.

It had been awkward with Hazelle before. This arrangement he had with Effie was unheard of in this town. People courted each other. They did not just make agreements to sleep with each other and Hazelle was exactly the sort of woman who would expect more from him, something that he was not willing to give. He might have even wound her after he pretended that the whole thing had not happened and it had taken them weeks before Hazelle would even look in the eye. He was glad it was behind them now and he didn't want the same awkwardness and discomfort with Effie. He liked Effie. He liked having her around to talk to, to tease and to annoy.

"I'm a little drunk," he told her in between kisses all the while fumbling with the clasp of her bra under her blouse. "Can't get your damn bra off and - "

She stopped kissing him and drew back a little give him a proper look.

"You are," she declared, gazing down into his no doubt slightly glassy eyes and winked. "I shall not take advantage of you."

"I don't mind - "

"Besides," she went on teasingly, "didn't you say you didn't want to tonight? I shall respect your wishes. Now, we can't sit and drink all night long."

He swallowed back the groan when she slid off him to settle back on the sofa.

"Trust me, sweetheart, I can. In fact, that's my plan."

"What do you have in your kitchen?" She asked out of the blue

Hadn't he somewhat expected this earlier? And yet, the surprise was still palpable.

"Oh, come on," he complained. "Keep your hobby away from here. You're gonna burn my fuckin' kitchen down."

"Since I have not burnt my kitchen, I doubt that will happen here. Don't be lazy," she laughed and rose to her feet. Effie held out her hand to him. "Come, Haymitch. It'll be fun."

"You and I have very different definition of fun."

"Not _all_ the time," she tossed a grin at him over her shoulder.

His kitchen was a disappointment to her. _That_ did not come as a surprise to him.

"How is it that you are an owner of a grocery store and yet, you hardly have _anything_ of substance in your fridge? Beer bottles," she gestured, "moulded cake – we're throwing this out. Rotten apples. That is going to the bin, too. You need to revise Hazelle's pay because she clearly missed your fridge when she's cleaning."

"Bitter," he retorted. "Maybe I should cut yours for being so meddlesome."

"Ah, ice cream!" she declared only to sigh in disappointment. "It's gone past its expiration date. We're not having that either."

She turned towards where he was leaning against a wall, watching her with the whiskey bottle dangling from his fingers.

"How do you survive...? Food-wise," she clarified.

Haymitch laughed. She sounded so concern.

"You."

Effie blinked, startled.

"You're surviving on my... hobby? The same one that you just mocked?"

"When you put it like that..." he drawled.

"What about before I was around?"

"Peeta. Maybe you didn't notice but he's set up a bakery at my store, and I got free pass to his bread," he said. "Sae's food, too. I'm not totally helpless in the kitchen," he rolled his eyes. "I prefer not to... waste the effort. Besides, I've got beans."

He nodded at the top cabinet where he stored some canned food for when he didn't want to leave his house at all.

"Oh, Haymitch," she stood in front of him. "You make my heart ache. How can anyone live like this?"

He scowled and evaded her hand when she raised it to touch his cheek.

His life was fine. He didn't need her sympathy. Sure, he didn't stock up his kitchen like she did with hers, and his house was messy and dirty on most days but it was fine. _He_ was fine. He had been perfectly fine for _years._

 _Stop lying to yourself,_ a traitorous voice whispered. _You're a mess until Peeta and Johanna, until... Effie._

"Do you know what I find surprising?"

"You're gonna tell me either way so spit it out."

"You carefully stock up your store," she remarked. "You made sure that nothing runs out, that we will always have enough, _more_ than enough so that Peeta and Delly can distribute the left over to those who need it in this town. You make no similar effort with your house and I'm thinking that perhaps, that store mean something to you, doesn't it? It is not _just_ a grocery shop, not to you."

He had to remind himself that Effie had no inkling at all how intricately his store was linked to his past and yet, it irked him. The observation was made so casually and Haymitch doubted she meant anything by it but it still felt as if she was prying.

Haymitch rounded on her.

"If it makes you sleep better at night, sweetheart, and since you want to know so fucking much, that store was supposed to be my salvation," his face twisted into a derisive sneer. "Anything else?"

Effie blinked, startled at being talked to that way. He saw the flash of irritation and annoyance on her face. He saw the way she squared her shoulders to fight back and stand up for herself but in a split second, she took a deep breath and she masked her expression into one that was calm and composed.

"I didn't mean - "

"Yeah, you didn't mean a hell of a lot of things it seems but it's always happening, isn't it?"

"I don't know what you are trying to imply," she snapped, her control cracking. "What is this about exactly?"

"You said you wouldn't ask me anything about – "

"And I didn't, Haymitch," she told him impatiently. "I left the topic of the cheques and your letters alone. I was talking about the store and – _Oh!"_

She looked at him. Her eyes grew wide as she slowly connected the dots.

"They are related, are they not?" she whispered. "Of course, they are. You asked me to cash the money into the store's account."

Haymitch couldn't bear to look at her.

"I shouldn't have snapped at you," he mumbled which was as close to an apology as it could get. "Look, if you're hungry, we can order some food."

"I'm not hungry," she told him in a soft voice. "I just wanted something to do with you."

Haymitch licked his lip and rubbed the back of his neck. Getting those envelopes every month brought up memories he would rather forget and he had taken it out on her. It should never have happened. He had a horrible habit of pushing people away and this was just one of those. He felt the guilt creeping up on him.

"It was a mistake coming here. You've been tensed and edgy since … because of what happened at the store. This isn't a good time for you and I see it now. I shouldn't have pushed you into spending the night with me. You wanted to be alone and I – I know how insistent I can be. It's a flaw in my personality," her lips quirked into a small smile. "I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Haymitch."

She touched his arm briefly as she passed by him.

Haymitch stood where he was. He was still processing everything that just happened when he heard the front door creaked open. That was when he reacted and went after her.

"Wait," he called out. "Wait, sweetheart. It's late. I ain't gonna let you walk home alone in the dark."

"I'm a grown woman. I can - "

"It's not about that. It's not safe and I don't want you alone out there. If anythin' happen, it'll be on _me,_ " he muttered. "Come inside. Come in, Effie. I can't drive you home right now. Not in this state."

Still, she stood stubbornly at his door. He couldn't blame her. If the position was reversed and he had been treated the way that he had treated her, he would think twice before accepting the offer.

"I'm sure nothing will happen. I've cycled home once from your house at night when I dropped you off, do you remember?"

Of course he did.

"I'll tell you about the store."

If he thought she would be glad to hear that, he was wrong. Effie sighed.

"That's not how it works, Haymitch. You don't have to tell me something you don't want to just so you can keep me around a little longer."

"I never do something I don't want to. I want to talk to you," he stepped back from the door to let her in.

She seemed sceptical.

"Just stay," he insisted. "Please."

"It's a beautiful night," she commented. "Let's sit outside."

That was a concession he could make. She settled herself on the top step of his porch and he followed, lowering himself next to her. Outside, on the street, two figures hurried past. He saw a glimpse of a bow in the dark.

"Is that Katniss?" Effie asked.

"Yeah, back from the woods, I bet. The other one's gotta be Hazelle's son."

"I supposed we can expect them tomorrow with whatever it is they caught."

He smirked. "Yeah, and you can go right ahead and pamper the girl's sister. I'm sure she'll let you doll her up again."

"She's a nice kid, Haymitch, and there is nothing wrong with looking pretty."

"Sure," he shrugged.

Haymitch waited for her to broach the subject but she was contented just sitting there watching the stars littering the night sky. He didn't think she was stupid enough to make the mistake twice and if he wanted to talk about his store, he would have to start first.

If Chaff was around, Haymitch was sure he would have warned him against it. He was not very sober. He could feel the pleasant buzz of alcohol and the false sense of relaxation, and he was not thinking straight. Not fully. But he had kept this to himself for far too long. He trusted Effie. Her previous life might feel superficial and shallow to him but there was something good and _whole_ about her and he was a broken man. The wholeness attracted him like a moth to a flame.

He wanted to _share,_ to talk and not to feel so desperately alone.

"The store…" he began and cleared his throat. She turned to look at him, giving him her fullest attention. "It was supposed to give me something to do before I drink myself to the grave, something to occupy me. The way it is with your cooking."

"I was in the army but you knew that already. Got injured but made it out of the mission… the fight alive anyway. People said I was lucky but sure as hell didn't feel that way. When you're seriously wounded, they send you home to get proper medical attention, rest and recuperate. I was looking forward to it, y'know? I wanted to go home the moment I left this town and it was finally happening. My gut spilling out was a small price to pay. I wanted to see my family and my girl so bad but I had no fuckin' idea I won't have a home to return to or a family."

Her gasp was telling. He didn't look her way, didn't pause to consider which part of it shocked her more; his injury or him talking about his family, none of which was at the moment related to his store but he might as well start from the beginning.

"What happened? Your house, your family and your – your girlfriend… What happened to them?"

"My house burnt down in the middle of the night with some other houses along with it. We weren't rich or anything like that so our house was at the Seam, right down this street straight ahead," he pointed down the road. "My Ma was asleep when it happened. She burnt inside. My girl's house too, and she with it. Lief got out. My brother, Lief. He was in the hospital for days. I got home to my brother in a coma on life support. Imagine that – after not seeing him for months and I came home to see him lying on a hospital bed, pale and motionless, and breathing through a damn tube. He ain't the only kid like that either. There were others in the hospital just like him. Smoke inhalation," he revealed. "Fatal."

She was staring at him, as if she had never heard something so awful and horrifying in her life, as if she never had anyone who had to deal with something like this. It made him wonder, really wonder, what her greatest tragedy was before her lover left her and she lost her modelling contract. He always knew their respective life was as different as it could be but the way she was staring at him….

"Took a hit with an axe here," he lifted his shirt up to show her the mangled scar tissue which she had at some point traced lightly with her finger on nights when she thought he was asleep, and a thousand questions about it dying on her lips. "You'd think I'd get hit by a shrapnel or shot at but I ended in a hand to hand combat and... Well, hurts like hell. They stitched me best as they could and I was on morphine half of the time for the pain."

She reached out for him then, curling her fingers over his hand and pulling it into her lap. He didn't pull away. He held on to her.

"I was still on morphine when I saw my brother. I thought I was fucking dreaming the whole thing up. Two weeks after I got home, I pulled the plug – doctors said nothing they could do anymore. His lungs were gone, it wasn't functioning and his brain ... I was there by his side and it felt like I've killed him myself."

"I'm so sorry, Haymitch."

"Yeah," he swallowed hard. "It makes me think to myself though. What if I had been at home when it happened? Could have gotten them all out, probably. I don't know but it's the what-ifs that's the worst, yeah?"

"It's not your fault," she told him. "There is _nothing_ you could have done."

It made no difference to him. He had heard the same again and again, but it didn't make him feel any better.

"Yeah," he swallowed hard. "We live near the coal mine. There was coal dust everywhere. Still have in fact even now. That shit is flammable so it ain't difficult for houses to catch fire. No one knows how the fire started. Story was that a kid was playing with matches but anyone who lives in the Seam knows not to let their kids do something stupid like that. It was just a cover story, that's what the town's folks think, something to shift the blame from the big corporation to us lesser people."

He paused to take a mouthful of whiskey.

"Either way, I don't know and I don't care. Knowing what caused the fire won't bring my family or my girl back."

"You should care. You can sue," Effie said. "Bring a class action against them."

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged. "They've been in some trouble a couple of times and the government doesn't do shit 'cause it's cheap to have a mine here, see? Big land and poor people means cheap labour and more profit for them."

He hated profits. Profit was what had gotten his family killed. Profit was what had buried the tragedy so that the story never saw the light of day. He was gripping the neck of the bottle so hard his knuckles had turned white. Very gently, Effie pried the bottle from his finger and set it down.

"How long ago was this?" she asked.

"Nineteen years back," he answered. "I was twenty-one."

"I can't imagine," she shook her head. "I can't imagine being so young and losing everything. I wouldn't be able to face any of it but you did. You're here, and that is strength, Haymitch."

He scoffed, dark and bitter, at her statement.

"Before I got here where I am now with you, my life was something else," he said. "The army wanted me back but I couldn't go back. I _can't._ I was in no state to serve them. I started drinking to dull the memories and I made sure I drank just enough to stop them from declaring me fit for service. Somewhere along the way…"

"You lose control," she finished what he couldn't. "You didn't realise just how much you're depending on alcohol."

"Yeah," he left it at that.

One glass became two before it turned to be an entire bottle, and that too became more than just a bottle a day. Dulling the memories weren't enough. He _needed_ it to stop the memories from haunting his dreams completely. It never really worked and he kept deluding himself into thinking that just another drink would do the trick.

"Months, maybe years pass. I don't know. Wasn't keeping count. I wanted everything to end. Friend of mine, Mags, found me passed out in my backyard and enough was enough she said so she sent me to this horrid place and me put through rehab. I got sick of it – the rehab, the counselling sessions – so I agreed to do somethin' with my life 'cause I just wanted out of there. This house belongs to the army. It ain't mine but still better than rehab…"

"Was that how your store came about? Because you needed a reason to get out of rehab?"

"Yeah. It was Chaff's idea. He was already trading by then. I've got some money from the army and insurance money from the mining company for what happened. I didn't touch the insurance money for long time. That money wouldn't bring my family back. It took me a while and a hell of a talk from Chaff before I used the money from Panem Insurance as capital to open the store. Didn't work out all that well at first until Jo and Peeta. I started putting money in the store for them – the store's the only thing they have - and to feed others here, figured my Ma would like it. Didn't want her to die for nothing."

"If she's here, Haymitch, I'm certain she will be proud of you," she squeezed his hand. "It is good and selfless what you are doing for the people in this town. You have a good heart, don't ever think otherwise."

He glanced her way. No one had said that to him and even if he didn't believe it himself, it was _something_ to hear it still.

"That's it. That's everything to it. My life story," he snorted. "You having to run away from the City can't hold a candle to this, eh?"

"It is a good thing then that I wasn't trying to compare our life tragedies," she rested her head on his shoulder and looped an arm around his.

His eyes remained fixed on the empty road. He had created a void in his life and it bled into his soul like poison. Weary and beaten, he couldn't find the will to climb out of it. Effie had crept into his life and the light she shone into it was far too blinding for someone so accustomed to the dark but he craved it.

He craved her light and he was exhausted to fight it off any longer.

So he pressed his cheek against the top of her head, closed his eyes and let out a trembling breath.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At over 5000 words, this is the longest chapter yet for TCS. I put in a lot of effort for this chapter and I'm proud of how it turns out so I really hope that you had as much fun and drive as much enjoyment from reading it. Reviews and feedbacks are always a great way to keep me motivated and a way for you to give me an insight on your thoughts! How do you think they're going to move forward from here now that they know each other's past? Are they going to keep it 'not complicated'.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

It felt like a dream lying on that chaise lounge on Haymitch's front porch with his arms around her and a blanket thrown over them. A perfect, beautiful dream. She smiled and burrowed her nose against the side of his neck.

His arms tightened around her and that was when her eyes flew open. For a second, Effie was completely still and slowly, her surrounding began to come into focus. It wasn't a dream. She was here with Haymitch on his front porch and they had just spent the night outside, holding each other as they slept, in the most innocent of that term. Anyone who actually bothered to stop as they passed by his house would be able to see them.

The morning air was crisp and fresh, waking up all her sleeping muscles.

Effie tilted her head up slightly to get a good look at him. He was still sleeping, his head lolling to the sides and she could already _hear_ him complain about the crick in his neck. The hand that was not wrapped around her was dangling on the side of the lounge, fingers grazing the floor.

"Haymitch," she called out softly.

She pushed herself. The blanket pooled around her waist and she was quick to pull it back up to cover him with it.

Haymitch mumbled something under his breath which drew a fond smile from her. She brushed his hair away from his face, watching him for a just a little while longer. He was only forty and yet the lines on his face made him look so much older. The things he told her yesterday were beyond anything she ever expected.

Truth be told, she was not expecting him to ever tell her about the store but he had, and knowing that he opened the store to do something better with his life and in memory of his mother made her heart fluttered. He was a good man. He might be rough and difficult, but he was good at heart.

He wasn't ready to hear it now but one day, she vowed, she would tell him that.

"Did it hurt your brain to be _that_ deep in thought this early in the morning?"

His gruff voice brought her attention back to him.

"What are you thinking?"

His grey eyes were dark and intense as they searched her face, looking for a sign that she changed her mind and was ready to bolt. She stayed where she was, and held his gaze. She loved his eyes. She loved the way they tracked her moves; the way their eyes met across the room; the way he always raise his gaze when she entered the room he was in. She loved the way his thick lashes enhanced the silver of his eyes.

"Must be somethin' serious if you've lost the ability to talk," he teased.

He raised his hand to her cheek and grazed the back of his fingers gently against it. Haymitch tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Without giving it much thought, she touched his wrist and pressed a kiss against his palm which made him pulled his hand away, staring at her.

It was always that way with him. He would do something tender without realising it which would startle him, and he would move two steps back. It was her fault. _She_ had made it explicitly clear after the first time they slept together that this was not to be more than anything. She had been trying to protect her heart but lately, she figured her heart was beyond protecting. It was him she wanted, and she wanted more than just the physical aspect of being with him. She wasn't sure if telling him would be the best because she would risk him pulling away completely from her, and even more so when Haymitch had reminded her the night before what this was between them.

"I – I didn't thank you for sharing something so personal with – "

"Yeah," he cut her off. "Come here."

He coaxed her until she settled against him. Not wanting to break this companionable silence between them, Effie said nothing. Her fingers were splayed against his chest and she could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady against her fingertips.

"What do you think Katniss is gonna bring in today?"

"Squirrel," she replied confidently. "Maybe even wild rabbits."

"Alright, I bet it's a deer – haven't brought any in months."

"What happens if I win?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'll order matcha, maybe."

"You'll order matcha _and_ we'll have dinner at Sae's."

That caught him off guard. The hesitation flickered across his eyes. They had never been anywhere together outside of work except for that one time at the coffee shop.

"Matcha," he muttered. "I win – you drive the truck this Friday for delivery."

"Very well, I'll settle for matcha," she sighed dramatically but there was a smile on her face when she leaned forward to peck his lips, "so deal."

This was nice. It was really nice to be out here on his porch with him, doing nothing except being together. They had a bit more time since they started permanently doing closing. It meant that they didn't have to be at the store that early when it open but even so, as much as she did not want this to end, she had responsibilities.

"I need a shower," she announced, pushing herself up. "You do, too."

"That's an idea," he smirked. "Never did it in the shower before. Wouldn't mind trying."

"I am _not_ showering here in your house," she said as she gathered her hair into a bun. She felt his heated gaze following every move her hands made and he even licked his lips when her fingers brushed against the length of her neck to chase after some loose strands of hair. "I have no change of clothes and I absolutely abhor having to wear these clothes again. Besides, it will just give Johanna more reasons to make fun of me."

"You're the model," he rolled his eyes. "Take one of my shirts and make it work."

She paused. Effie shivered at that very thought. She tried to fight off the grin and to pretend as if what he just said did not have an effect on her but she was picturing herself in one of his plaid shirts and she liked what she just imagined. The shirt would smell of him and she would be carrying that with her throughout the day. It was a comforting thought.

"So… Shower?" he asked as his hand roamed under her blouse on the skin of her back.

XxX

Standing in front of the store, Effie raised her head towards the sign. _Abernathy's Grocery_ was slightly crooked and board was old. The colour had faded and the lettering could use with a new coat of paint.

She glanced in his direction where he was struggling to roll up the window on the driver's side of the seat. The roller had habit of jamming but despite that, Haymitch had never bothered to bring it to a workshop to get it fixed.

"What are you starin' at?" he grumbled.

"Nothing at all," Effie shook her head.

During the drive over, with his past still fresh in her mind, she wondered how his life would be if he had never bought this piece of property to open a store. It frightened her, she realise, to picture him aimless and lost, drowning himself at the bottom of a bottle. Johanna would not have stumbled into his life if it wasn't for the store. Peeta would have nowhere to go had it not been for the store, and _she_ would not have met the three of them if it wasn't for Abernathy's Grocery. She would have to get her groceries from the nearest store in the next town over.

"Might need to get a new truck," he mumbled, "it's a fuckin' piece of junk that one."

Effie said nothing to that. It was an old truck which according to Peeta, Haymitch had bought from a woman named Ripper.

"I saw a pretty one in one of the advertisements on TV," Effie started. "They even have them in teal."

"What?"

"Teal?" Effie turned towards him. "It's a very pretty shade of green."

He laughed and it was one of his mocking laughter which made her frown.

"Yeah, 'course you'd go for somethin' pretty. It isn't 'bout how it looks. You gotta think about the engine power, if the vehicle uses – "

"Oh, no," Effie covered her ears and quickened her steps. "You're right. I don't want to listen to any of that."

His laughter followed her all the way as they entered the store.

Katniss and Gale were already there, game bags on the counter.

"Squirrels," Effie mouthed out of the corner of the mouth. There would not be bag if it was a deer. "Matcha _and_ dinner."

"Never made any bet 'bout any dinner," Haymitch retorted without looking at her as he kept his eyes on the two teenagers.

Gale hovered behind Katniss and nodded his head in acknowledgment when he saw Haymitch. He eyed Effie in Haymitch's shirt which she had tucked in to make it fashionable. Even if they had crossed paths on a few occasion, Effie still felt ill under his scrutiny. Johanna had mumbled something about her being an 'outsider' and in her own way had told her that she went through the same when she first stumbled into this town.

She left Haymitch to deal business with Katniss and Gale, and joined Peeta who was talking enthusiastically with Prim.

The young girl was studying Peeta's cupcakes with interest, commenting on the pretty icing.

"These are really beautiful," she praised. "I've always wondered… Don't you ever want to open a bakery store of your own? To continue what your family had? My mum isn't doing too well so the apothecary isn't really in business but one day, when I've learnt enough about medicine, it'll be open again," she smiled.

"That's really good, Prim! The town needs an apothecary. We have all these medicines but won't hurt to have a more natural remedy," Peeta told her.

"Yep, so, what about you?" Prim asked.

Peeta nodded, looking mildly embarrassed.

"I plan to," Peeta admitted.

Effie did not find this surprising. Peeta had always had a passion for baking. It filled her with pride to hear these children sharing their hopes and dreams, and having ambitions of their own. It reminded her of herself when she was younger.

"I'm saving some money from working here to open a store. Umm," he glanced behind him at Haymitch. "He doesn't know yet. I – I haven't talked to him about it. I don't want him to think that I'm being… ungrateful to leave him and start something on my own."

"Oh, Peeta, he wouldn't think that," Effie assuaged.

"I was worried too about leaving him behind but then you joined and I – I think he'll be alright if I moved out from upstairs and you know…"

"Peeta," Effie gave him a fond smile, "you will _still_ be around. Opening a bakery and finding your own place to stay wouldn't take you out of this town. You'll still be able to drop by and visit anytime."

"If you ever decide to have a bakery store, I'll be your first customer!"

"Thanks, Prim," Peeta returned her smile.

"I didn't know your family owned a bakery store," Effie told him once Prim had moved away to look around the store.

"They used to," Peeta said. "It burnt down. My mother forgot to turn off the gas one night and it went up in flames. I would have died too if it wasn't for Katniss."

His eyes trailed over the girl who Effie noted was quick to avert her gaze away from Peeta when she realised that he noticed.

"Katniss?" her brows crinkled. She was not aware that there was a history between them

"She – uh – she pulled me out from it… The fire. I was the only one she could get to. I would have lost more than just my leg if it wasn't for her."

"Oh, I'm – I didn't know this, Peeta. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Peeta shrugged his shoulder. "She said we're even now."

"How so?"

It took him a while to answer. He busied his hands by arranging the cupcakes on a tray.

"I gave her a piece of bread years ago. It wasn't much. It was even slightly burnt," he laughed nervously as he recounted the story, "but her family was starving. I remembered that she had just lost her dad because of the mining accident. So we were just kids back then and she had not started hunting yet. It's a small town," he shrugged again. "We look out for each other."

XxX

Effie counted her victory and smiled smugly when Haymitch hung up the phone.

"That shit is expensive," he grumbled. "No one's gonna fuckin' buy it and then we'll see if you'll still have that stupid grin on your face."

" _I'll_ buy it," Effie declared. "Maybe I'll make some matcha ice cream for you."

Haymitch scrunched his nose. "Sounds disgusting."

"We'll see if you still think that way after you've had your first taste."

"I can a taste that I know isn't disgusting," he smirked, looking at her pointedly.

"You really do know how to make a woman all hot and bothered," Effie deadpanned.

She made to walk past him but he grabbed her hand and tugged her gently until she was leaning against him. His rested his hands on her waist.

"Your place or mine?" he asked, dropping a kiss on the side of her neck.

"Mine," she grinned. "No offense, Haymitch, but I've seen the state of your bed and I think mine is much more comfortable."

"Who said anything 'bout a bed? Maybe I'll fuck you on my sofa."

"Language," she clicked her tongue.

Effie stepped out of his embrace to grab her purse and when she turned around, he was already walking out of the door towards his truck to get the engines started. She began the task of closing up and locking the store.

They were kissing and pawing at each other the moment they stepped inside her house and he kicked the door close. Her pants was on the floor next to the sofa, her borrowed shirt thrown over it, his own was on the lamp shade and his pants was about to join the rest of their discarded clothes when her phone went off.

There were only a handful of people who knew her mobile number; Haymitch, Peeta and Johanna, her therapist and her sister. Eirene and Dr. Aurelius would always call on schedule, same time on the same day of the week. Peeta and Johanna seldom ever called her on her mobile. They were young and preferred to text.

This call was unexpected and it got her attention.

"I have to take that," she pushed lightly on his chest.

Her back was against the wall with his leg was in between hers, nudging them insistently apart and his hand was shoved under her bra, palming her breast.

"Let it go to voicemail," he growled against her skin.

"It could be something important," she argued. "What if it's something to do with the store? Or what if it's about my family back home?"

It was the word 'family' that made him sigh and dropped his head briefly on her shoulder before he stepped back.

"Be quick," he said. "I don't like to be left hanging."

She located her purse and rummaged through her many belongings to find her phone wedged at the bottom of the bag.

"Effie speaking," she said.

"Effie," her sister's voice filtered through. "I know it isn't Monday but – "

There was a pause. She heard voices in the background.

"Seneca is back, darling," Eirene told her calmly but Effie knew her sister and there was a sharp edge underlying her voice. "He is looking for you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I did say in a few chapters back that for once, everybody lives. That includes Seneca Crane. *evil grin* You have a little insight on Peeta's life and some playful banter back between Effie and Haymitch so tell me your thoughts :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

From the tone of Effie's voice, Haymitch deduced two things. The call didn't seem as if it would conclude quickly and that the moment between them was lost. Haymitch released a frustrated breath, no longer in the mood to take her to bed.

"Is he there right now?" Effie asked sharply to whoever was on the phone, glancing briefly behind her shoulder at him. "No, no, please. I have no desire to speak to him, Eirene."

Haymitch located his jeans. By the time he had buckled his belt, Effie had already hung up. Looking around for his shirt, he asked, "problem?"

"It was – That was my sister," she began and paused before trying again to answer his question. "Eirene doesn't usually call me at this – It's just..."

Her face had lost a little of its colour and her thoughts was obviously scattered. It was unlike her to grapple for words. This uncharacteristic change made him abandon his search for his shirt to approach her.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?"

"Seneca's back," Effie said quietly.

Haymitch stopped in his track. _Ex-lover,_ his mind connected the name with what Effie had told him of her past and her reaction began to make sense to him.

He schooled his expression to betray nothing even as a hint of resentment and fear began to make its presence known.

He understood the resentment but not the fear that came with it. To him, Seneca Crane was just a name and should remain as such, but that was easier when he was out of the picture. It was easier to not give that man any thought when he was just a character in Effie's story but now...

"So?" He shrugged. "What's got you so shaken? Him comin' back shouldn't matter, thought there is nothin' going on with you and him after what happened."

Was he trying to pry for an assurance from her? Even so, he gave a slight shake of his head, why would he need assuring?

"Because he's looking for me," Effie told him. "That was what Eirene told me. He is at her house right now. He went to my apartment. When he realised that I was not there and that my trail went cold, he went to Eirene for answers. He's looking for _me,_ Haymitch. I don't know why and I don't know what he wants from me, and that worries me."

There was only one reason Haymitch would go looking for an old girlfriend and that was to get her back, to make things right. It was the only logical explanation and he assumed it would be the same for Crane which meant that man still cared about Effie.

He gritted his teeth at the thought, the resentment threatening to bubble to the surface.

"You broke it off with him, yeah? When you rejected his marriage - "

Haymitch stopped abruptly. It didn't concern him what went on between them. It shouldn't and yet, a part of him felt _threatened_. There was an instinctive need to protect what was his except she wasn't truly his in a way that would warrant him coming in between them to tell Crane to fuck off.

"- your sister told him you're here?"

"She wouldn't do that. She did not tell him anything. Eirene would protect me as long as she could and I trust her to keep him away, but she's not telling me everything," Effie admitted. "That is what is making me even more worried. I don't blame her of course because… She can't tell me anything with him there. Before she hung up, she promised to call as soon as she's able."

"So you've got to handle this, yeah?" he asked. "This has got nothin' to do with me and I ain't gonna be a bother. You need time so best if I leave. I'm going, alright?"

"I – No," she touched his arm gently. "You don't have to. Please, Haymitch, stay."

Haymitch had no real desire to stay. He didn't want to have to listen to her discuss about Crane with her sister. It was something personal to her and if it was him, he'd want her to leave so he could deal with the situation on his own.

But he had spent months with Effie, and they were two very different people with different approaches.

"You're asking me to stay because you're feeling bad 'bout leaving me cold and just being polite 'bout it? Or do you really want me here?"

She gave him an odd look before she sighed.

"I do feel bad," she admitted, "but I _need_ you. I am not sure when Eirene will call and alone, I will drive myself crazy."

He was a distraction which didn't really surprise him. After all, that was the basis of their relationship. He was a distraction to her and she kept his mind off the demons that haunted him.

It was also something else to see her standing in front of him without her pants or her shirt, openly admitting to needing him. Nobody truly needed him nowadays. The vulnerability compelled him to stay. If he were to leave now, he would be haunted by the thought of her alone and worrying herself, and he had enough guilt on his plate without adding something stupid like this to it.

"Better you than getting drunk," he grumbled to himself.

Without a word, he picked the old shirt of his that Effie had borrowed and draped it around her. She flashed him a grateful smile, buttoned the shirt to leave the top open and settled herself on the sofa with a heavy sigh. The shirt barely covered her ass which left her legs bare and he avoided staring at them. On any other occasion, he would have taken the opportunity to run his hands over her legs but he didn't think she would appreciate it when her mind was occupied with something else.

"Just when I thought that my life is going as well as can be expected, when things are relatively calm and fine and I'm _happy_ , there is always something that will crop up to ruin it all."

 _Happy_ , he gave a furtive glance in her direction. She had just admitted to being happy living here in this town, and while he didn't want to delve too much into what she meant, _he_ was a part of her life here.

And yet, this house felt empty. It was not like the space above his store where, over the period that Peeta had used it as a living space, he had filled with trinkets and mementos of his life that inadvertently included photos of Haymitch with Johanna and Peeta. There were no photographs of her family or her friends, nothing that reminded her of life in the City. It was beautifully decorated but it was apparent that when she had decorated, in her mind, she knew this was just temporary.

Haymitch walked over to the bookcase and ran his fingers over the stacks of magazines that she had neatly arranged. The first of it was seven months ago, the month when she first moved to this town. Nothing caught his attention and he wandered over to the most familiar room in her house – the kitchen.

There had to be something in the kitchen that would distract her and there in the freezer was an assortment of homemade ice cream. Ice cream, he supposed, should do the trick. All the tubs were neatly marked and labelled in her precise and concise handwriting. He smirked when he saw _Rum Raisin_. That would explain the bottle of rum in her order sheet last week but raisins… It was a peculiar choice of ingredient for an ice cream but he took it still, because it was the only tub with an alcoholic content.

Haymitch returned to the sitting room and without a word, handed her a tub of her homemade raspberry ice cream.

"I can't," she decline, pushing the tub away. "I had the lemon sorbet the night before. I'm not supposed to have one today."

"What sort of fucking rule is that?"

"A necessary one," she retorted. "We can't have me gaining weight."

"You're fucking kidding me, right?"

"I am being completely serious," she insisted.

"Don't be stupid," Haymitch muttered. "You're fine. I don't care 'bout how you look," he continued before he could stop himself. "Eat the ice cream."

"It's _sorbet_ ," Effie corrected. "I need to watch my figure. I can't let myself go."

That angered him. It was a sharp, spike of irritation that clawed at him from the inside. It circled back to the fact that she was only here to bid her time until she returned to the life she had always known and he would be where he had always been, here in this town.

"I remember," he said harshly, swallowing the bitter taste on his tongue. "I haven't forgotten you're waiting for your next big break."

It was a lie.

At some point, it had slipped his mind - moments when he lost himself with her, drunk on her taste and high on her purposeful, gentle caresses - but when Effie dropped unsuspecting comments like she just did, it brought the fact back to the forefront of his mind and it felt like he had been doused with a bucket of ice, a slap of reality.

She was fast becoming a weakness in his life, and he _hated_ it. He spent years in solitude that when she came around and crept over the walls he built, he was unprepared for it. She was an intruder and if she was not going to stay to be part of the life behind the wall, then she had to leave.

He would have made her leave to protect himself. He would have pushed her away but ultimately, that wouldn't be necessary. She was going to leave either way, out of her own free will. With Crane making this unexpected come back, he had already imagined that scenario unfolding. Sure, at this point, none of them knew what Crane wanted but there was the fact that Effie knew Crane longer than she knew him. She had loved him once.

Whatever sentiments she once held for Crane, he was certain she did not have the same for him.

Whatever was going on between them was not an exclusive arrangement. She wanted no commitments and he understood it. He did. She was trying to protect herself, the same way he was. Yet, he couldn't cast aside the foolishness in sitting here with her on the sofa to keep her company as if he was her bitch. She asked and he gave in.

 _Stupid,_ he thought furiously.

If she didn't want ice cream, fine. He snatched the tub from her and stalked to the kitchen where he proceeded to shove both of their tubs back to the freezer, and slammed the door. He stood in front of the sink, fingers gripping the edges of the counter. Crane's return shouldn't have shaken him this much. It shouldn't bother him. He was being fucking stupid.

His absence must have prompted Effie to come searching for him because he heard her footsteps. He heard the fridge door open and close.

"I made the _Rum Raisin_ with you in mind," she told my softly, resting a gentle hand between his shoulder blades.

"I don't like raisins in my ice cream or my bread."

"I didn't know that. I won't have raisins in anything if it's for you," she said. "Will you have the ice cream? I'll pick the raisins out for you."

That got to him. He wasn't a picky eater but there were things he preferred and things he would rather not eat, and no one had offered to cater to what he like or what he didn't. He turned around sharply to see her standing with two tubs of ice cream stacked on top of one another.

"I'm sorry," she offered a smile. "You were trying to be helpful and I –"

He didn't want the ice cream. He wanted her. He had always wanted her from the moment she turned her nose up at him when he first showed up at her door.

Haymitch advanced on her until her back hit the refrigerator behind her. The kiss was brutal and demanding, and he wedged his hand between their bodies to cup her between her legs. The tubs of ice cream fell from her hand and yet, he didn't break the kiss to allow her to clean that up. She sighed into his mouth, curling her fingers on the nape of his neck to deepen the kiss.

He fucked her against the refrigerator. Her moans and whimpers filled the room, and she was incoherent, alternating between panting his name and pleading with him to go faster. She quivered and trembled, and it drove him crazy.

He was so close. All he wanted was to find his released. Haymitch dropped his head against her shoulder, his hips rutting against hers.

"Don't stop, Haymitch," she panted, her fingers grasping his hair.

He sucked and marked the curve where her neck her met shoulder, something he had never done before. When he scraped his teeth against the skin, Effie cried out, shuddering in his arms. He licked and kissed the spot to soothe the bruise and held her tight when she slumped against him.

With her legs still wrapped around his waist and her hands still wound around his neck, Haymitch carried her to the sofa and set her down.

"I feel …" she smiled dreamily, eyes half closed, "you make me feel so good."

"Hmm," he hummed.

He was half naked, his boxers and jeans were still in a heap on the kitchen floor but he couldn't summon the strength to get up and get dressed. He pulled Effie up against him so they were both stretched out on the sofa and pulled the throw blanket from the back of it to cover them both.

Effie fell asleep easily.

He ran his fingers through her hair. He could enjoy this small moment with her. His gaze shifted towards her, cataloguing every lines and marks and that small mole on her elbow before he brushed his thumb lightly over the purple mark on her neck.

_His._

Time trickled past and yet sleep still eluded him. The house was quiet and peaceful, with Effie's breathing the only soothing sound that filled the silence until her phone rang.

Startled, Haymitch snatched it off the coffee table and pressed the 'sleep' button at the side of the phone to silent it. Effie stirred but turned her face away, pressing it against his side.

The call was still coming through. The name on the screen read "Eirene". Haymitch hesitated and glanced in her direction. She had been waiting for this call but Haymitch didn't want to disturb her. In her sleep, she wasn't troubling herself with any worries.

He would answer, he decided, if only to tell her sister to call back in a few hours.

"Haymitch Abernathy speaking," he said, mindful to keep his voice low.

"Eff – I beg your pardon?" There was a moment of silence before the woman at the end of line spoke up again. "Haymitch… Oh! You are the man who owned that grocery place my sister works for, is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"May I – There is something of importance I need to discuss with my sister. Please, get her on the phone."

"She's asleep," Haymitch explained. "She was waiting for your call and dozed off. Look, you can call her back in the morning. Crane can wait, yeah?"

Again, a brief silence followed.

"You are aware then?"

"What? That he's lookin' for? Yeah, I know 'bout that."

"What else do you know?" Eirene asked, and somehow, Haymitch imagined her narrowing her eyes suspiciously because her tone certainly implied the suspicion.

"Ex-boyfriend, cheated on her, destroyed her career," he answered, straight to the point. "Something like that."

"I see. You are her employer, yes?"

Haymitch rolled his eyes. Had they not established this earlier?

"Yeah."

"Is it not late where she's at? What time is it? One in the morning?"

His gaze was drawn to the mounted wall clock and she was right. It was late or early depending on how one viewed it but it was clear what she was implying, and if she had to imply then Eirene knew nothing about what was going on between them.

There was no waiting for an answer from him before she went for it.

"Is there something going on?"

"If you should know, she'd have told you," Haymitch muttered, uncomfortable with this line of inquiry. "I'll tell her you called."

"I apologise," Eirene said hurriedly in an attempt to keep him on the phone. "I – I'm worried about her, that's all. She told me a lot of things about this town she's living in. She told me about the people, the environment in the town and she told me about your shop. But when it comes to you, she has only mentioned you once when she informed me of her decision to take up employment in your store. I did not know you are both _friendly_ enough for you to be at my sister's house at this unsolicited hour. I supposed you can imagine my surprise?"

Haymitch cleared his throat.

"I was – She needed some help," he said simply. "Plumbing."

 _What the fuck? That's the lamest fucking excuse,_ he mentally berated himself

"Is it serious?"

He had a feeling that Eirene was _not_ talking about this hypothetical plumbing problem that Effie needed his help with.

"You got to ask her that," he deflected. "I don't wanna wake her up talkin' on the phone so I think it's better if you – "

"I'm asking you, Haymitch. Is it serious?"

He could hang up, he figured. He could end this and there was no need to put himself through it any further. Besides, what did it say about Effie the fact that she had never told her sister about him? Granted he never went around talking to people about them and he preferred to keep what was between them private, but this was a small town and everyone knew about them anyway. It was difficult to ignore what was going on when his truck could often be seen at odd hours on her driveway. People assumed and accepted that there was something between them, but _he_ was secret to her family in the City.

He was just a man from a small, forgotten town whom she fucked to past the time. He thought he could live with that but he wanted her to remember him. It was selfish when he knew from the beginning what he was getting himself into. He had unconsciously surrendered to his desire for her, and in that, had given her this power over him. He had always prided himself in being smart but Effie took that away from him. Her kisses clouded his judgment and it was too late to turn back.

"She doesn't want serious," he admitted, and it was easier to do so to a stranger whose face he had never seen. He could never have done the same to Peeta or Johanna, if they ever ask him that about Effie. "Told me that the first night. You wanna leave a message for her or something?"

"I – My sister is …. She's meant for big things and -"

"Yeah, it's fine," he cut her off. "She's a grown woman. She makes her own decision. You don't have to make excuses for her."

He didn't want to hear it in any case. He did not want to hear the truth that Effie deserved someone better than him, someone with ambition and prospect and career to match hers. He didn't want to hear of how he would only hold her back. He didn't want her to have to go through the embarrassment of being associated with someone like him because if the media found out and this was leaked to the public in the City, he didn't want to be the reason her career never took hold again. He was more than happy to leave that to Crane.

"Well then, please, let her know that I did not tell Seneca anything. Her whereabouts are still unknown to him. Tell her though to watch Caesar's morning show tomorrow. She needs to watch it. Seneca will be on that show and I truly believe that it will have something to do with her."

He felt sick. From what Effie had told him, the last time Crane had appeared on television, it bore no good news for her.

"I'll let her know."

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Waking up, there was a fleeting moment of peace when the worries of yesterday were temporarily forgotten. In that moment, she was aware of Haymitch's arms around her, his leg wedged between hers and his breath warming her neck.

Turning in his arms, Effie rested a palm on the side of his face and with a thumb, stroked his cheek. Eventually, the soft, gentle movement woke him up.

"Good morning," she greeted with a warm smile.

"Mornin'," he pushed himself up and rubbed the back of his neck to ease the stiff muscle.

Effie herself was a little sore between the legs but it was not something she would complain about. The sex yesterday night was amazing and she could feel the blush creep up her cheeks at the memory of him taking her against the refrigerator. He had been insistent and demanding, and she had matched him in every way.

Under the blanket they were sharing, Effie could feel the warmth of his body heat. They were both still naked from the waist down and she was certain her panties were in a heap together with his jeans and boxers on the kitchen floor.

That thought caused her to sit up abruptly.

"The ice cream," she gasped.

The last she remembered was dropping the tubs on the floor. With Haymitch's touches leaving goosebumps in its wake and with him inside of her, the ice cream was the least of her worries except now, in the morning light, she was thinking of the melting dessert staining her kitchen.

"Sweetheart…."

She looked down at the phone Haymitch was pressing into her palm.

"Your sister called," he told her.

"What?" She swung her legs over the sofa. "When? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Had she not made it clear to him that she was waiting for her call?

Haymitch shrugged as if it was not a big of an issue, and in that moment, she felt a surge of annoyance because it was important to _her_.

"You needed the rest – didn't wanna wake you up."

Effie would have had something to say to that except Haymitch cut her off with a "Crane's gonna be on the morning show. Your sister thinks it's gonna be 'bout you – wants you to watch it."

"Is that all?" She asked, forcing herself to be calm. He should have passed the phone to her. He should have let her talk to her sister. He shouldn't be making decisions for her. "Was that the entire conversation?"

Something flickered in his eyes and Effie waited for more ominous news but all Haymitch said was, "Yeah, that's all."

Unsatisfied, Effie scrolled through the call log to check the time of the call and noted that the conversation lasted more than three minutes. Her sister's message would not have lasted three minutes. She lifted his gaze, searching his face. In the end, she decided, that if it was important enough, Haymitch would tell her and even so, she could call her sister later on to find out. There were other things to worry about at the moment.

Effie counted to ten and forced herself to practice the breathing technique Dr. Aurelius taught her to keep herself calm and in control. It was in vain because her mind was running through an endless stream of scenarios involving Seneca and the impending interview.

"He will ruin me _again,_ " she choked out in despair. "He's done it before and he's going to do it again. Why else would - "

"You don't know that," Haymitch muttered.

"You don't know him," Effie retorted. " _I_ do. I spent years with him. I know him better than anyone else."

She felt shift next to her.

"He went missing for nearly a year and he suddenly reappears? Seneca loves the fame, Haymitch. How else do you think he will get people to pay attention to him again other than to appear on a famous morning talk show? Oh, dear, what am I going to do?"

"I'm leaving," he announced. "Don't need me around anymore for this pity party, do you?"

Effie raised her head, confused by his abrupt callous nature.

"I beg your pardon?"

There was no answer from him. Instead, he gave her a disgruntled glance and headed towards the kitchen. She followed, pulling on the tails of her shirt to cover herself properly.

"Go watch that damn talk show, Effie," he snapped, snatching his jeans off the floor as he sidestepped the mess of melted ice cream to head back out. "Might even give you an answer for all I know."

"It is not until later – time difference," she said. "What do you mean by a _'pity party'_? Haymitch. Haymitch, you can't just leave me. I'm in the middle of a crisis."

"A crisis," he repeated flatly, rounding up on her. "You think _this_ little problem of yours is a fucking crisis?"

" _Yes,_ " Effie stressed, not understanding his condescending nature at all. "He'll drag me with him again."

Her dismay must be amusing to him because he sneered. She bristled.

Perhaps Haymitch was not seeing the bigger picture here. That was fine, she thought. He didn't seem like a man with much ambition himself. She would be fair and she would explain it to him so he could understand the gravity of the situation.

She tried to sound calm when she spoke next.

"My career is on the line. I need a modelling contract to be able to do what I want to do. I want to model for famous brand, Haymitch. It is all I know and my time is running out, my age is catching up with me. It is important that I get a contract soon and I cannot do that with Seneca standing in my way."

He stared at her stoically and it was difficult to read the expression on his face, to know if he comprehended it all.

"Seneca is going on air, Haymitch," she tried again. "I'm _here_ because of him. I'm trying to keep a low profile and build my career up again. Didn't I tell you this? I can't do that if Seneca brings drama back into my life. The paparazzi will eat it up and all of this," she gestured around her house, "will be worthless. Everything will be for nothing; moving out of the city, moving here. I would have wasted seven, eight months of my life here."

"Wasted..." He snorted. "You're really something, you know."

Her brows furrowed trying to catch the meaning behind it.

"I don't care about your fucking career, Effie."

That hurt. That hurt her more than it should and with it, the anger bubbled inside of her once more.

"What is the matter with you?" she cried, making a grab for his hand except he was quick to pull it away.

"Listen, sweetheart," his voice rough. "You asked me to stay the night because you wanted company. What else do you want from me now? This is _your_ problem. I'm not your fuckin' boyfriend. I don't need to hold your hand and help you deal with your problem that your _ex_ -lover created. I'm someone you fuck when you're bored, that's all, ain't it?"

She could only stare at him.

"I'm your boss," he said without looking at her. "If you want some sympathy, try calling Peeta. He'll make you tea, give you a cupcake and tell you it's all gonna be okay. I'm not that guy."

"I don't want – Why do you have to be so harsh?" she asked.

The irritation and anger over the way he had callously dismissed her worry over her career had deflated. He was back to drawing lines, firmly putting himself as her employer. She thought that they were at least friends and shouldn't friends be supportive of each other? She would be supportive of him. If he wanted to expand his store, she would have supported him. If he wanted to open a geese farm, she would be supportive of him even if the very idea was appalling to her.

"Harsh?" he scoffed. "You're living in your own fuckin' head, Effie. It's always about you. You say things without thinking. You think I'm harsh and unreasonable? You're fucking ignorant – that's what. You don't see what's in front of you."

She _had_ said something that he took offense in, she decided. Trying to figure out what she said to make him angry was like trying to fish without any bait, so Effie took the most rationale approach. She asked.

"What does that mean? Talk to me, please," she stepped closer to him. "What am I ignoring?"

He growled in frustration before storming past her and out of the house.

"Haymitch! Haymitch, what did you mean by that?" she hurried after him. "Don't just walk –"

She watched him climb on the driver's seat of his truck and started the engine. He didn't even glance in her direction as he drove out of her driveway, leaving her standing in front of her house staring after him.

XxX

Effie arrived at the store earlier than her scheduled shift. It must be a sight to see her back to riding her bicycle and walking to the store alone without Haymitch.

"Didn't spend the night together?" Johanna snickered.

Peeta stomped on her foot and the grin faltered.

"Are you alright, Effie? You don't look –"

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine," she gave them a dazzling smile. "I just thought I'll come in earlier today to go through the accounts once more. It's the month's end after all."

She went right to work and immersed herself in it. Johanna was never quiet when she work and the familiar sound of boxes hitting the floor, of pen knife slicing through masking tape, of Johanna noisily arranging the items on the shelves was familiar and calming to her. At some point, Peeta came over and dropped two strawberry cupcakes in front of her.

He smiled.

"It's not much but I hope you'll feel better," he told her quietly.

"Thank you, Peeta."

As busy as she was, Effie was very aware of the time and as the hour drew nearer, she excused herself to the back of the store. She had just turned on the television when she heard the sound of Haymitch's old truck pulling up. The bell rang and she heard his voice talking to Johanna.

"Your girl looks upset," the young woman teased.

"Not my girl and I don't care."

"I knew it," Johanna declared triumphantly. "What did I tell you, Peeta? They _fought._ "

She tried not to let it bother her and kept her gaze resolutely on the screen. The anthem to Caesar's talk show began playing and Caesar's grinning face appeared. She was nervous and anxious, and even so when Caesar began building up his introduction to his 'special guest', a well-known name in the fashion and entertainment industry.

When the camera panned away from Caesar and began to zoom in on Seneca Crane, Effie sucked in a breath. He looked well, healthy and as handsome as ever. His eyes sparkled brightly and his smile was just as she remembered it, sweet and charming.

The interview started with Caesar asking him where he had been.

 _'_ _Resting'_ , he answered with a dazzling smile, _'searching for myself, discovering myself again. It's a journey.'_

If Effie was the kind to roll her eyes, she would have.

 _'_ _It made me realise that – I mean I_ know _that I have hurt and wrong some people in my life and … I want to make things right, Caesar. That's the whole reason I'm here. Enough shying away from the cameras – the people deserves the truth. I just want to set things right. She was such a huge part of my life and I've done a great injustice to her."_

Effie bit her lip. Seneca was talking about her. One did not have to be a genius to figure it out.

 _"_ _You are, of course, talking about Effie Trinket…"_ Caesar clarified.

"Holy shit," Johanna exclaimed.

Startled, Effie turned around to see her standing there with Haymitch. She was unaware if they had just walked in or if they had been standing there since the interview started. Effie tried to meet Haymitch's gaze but he was stubbornly not looking at her. With a huff, Effie turned her attention back at the show.

_"_ _Effie's an amazing woman – exceptional - and when I found out that her contract with Victoria's Secret had not been renewed, I was – I'm crushed. She was happy being an Angel and she's proud of what she's achieved. As am I, and this is just… I'm just devastated."_

"I'm sure you are," Effie muttered darkly.

_"_ _It's me, Caesar. It's my fault. I will admit that on national television. The whole scandal… That's what I'm here to talk about."_

Caesar said nothing, letting the moment sink in for the audience.

The rest of what Seneca said was the exact same that Effie had told her therapist, her sister and Haymitch. She thought she would find an immense feeling of satisfaction to hear Seneca admit to his infidelity and to impregnating his lover whose baby _he_ ultimately asked to be aborted but Effie felt numb. She felt hollow.

 _"_ _She paid the price for my mistakes. Asking Effie to marry me was just a stunt and I don't blame her for rejecting. She didn't deserve that,"_ Seneca said with such morose and sorrow that she couldn't help thinking that he was still playing the audience.

The intentional pauses and the well-timed guilty glances to the camera was something Effie was very familiar with, and the praises he lauded her way was suspicious to her. Even if his intentions were pure, the manner he carried it out made her extremely wary.

 _"_ _We concluded the Fashion Week a few days ago and while it was going on, I was watching, looking for a familiar face but it was different this year. I was not there and neither was she, and she_ should _be there. I would not have been backstage watching her walking down the runway to give my support but I would have been watching her nonetheless. She belongs on that runway,"_ Seneca stressed. _"Anyone who has seen her…."_

He took another pause and made a show of composing himself.

 _"_ _I choose to speak out now right after the Fashion Week because… Everything is still fresh in people's mind, including the models, and Effie is one of_ ours _. We_ need _her back. We need to give her a reason to come back and nothing like being the face of a famous name, say… Prada… How about it, Prada?"_ He laughed lightly into the camera. _"Your next Fall campaign, perhaps or Spring, always her favourite time of the year."_

 _"_ _Correct me if I'm wrong, Seneca,"_ Caesar leaned forward, _"but it does seem to me as though you are trying to win her back. Is there any truth to this? I'm sure our viewers are_ dying _to know."_

_"_ _No, no, nothing of that sort. I have no ulterior motives except to right my wrongs."_

"You know…" Johanna spoke up, "someone who has no motives wouldn't have to say that he doesn't have one. I wouldn't go for Prada, if I were you."

Effie was under the impression that the show would have ended with the interview but Caesar, knowing that he had something good in his hand and anticipating the reaction to this exclusive, sensational interview, had set up a phone line directly to the studio. It did not take long after the phone line was open when it started ringing off the hook.

As much as Effie couldn't bear to sit through the probing questions, she couldn't look away either. There were calls from fans of theirs pinning their hopes of seeing them back together and to see them modelling together again. There were women expressing their delight to see Seneca Crane back again while calling Effie out and making it clear that she did not deserve him.

Johanna found that hilarious and recorded it on her phone for Peeta's benefit. Effie didn't dare to look at Haymitch.

There were also a few callers who stood up for her, calling Seneca despicable for what he had done. _That_ carved a small smile on her lips. She didn't need validation from anyone but it still warmed her heart to hear that not everyone was against her.

Still, Effie _hated_ being the subject of everyone's topic of conversation when she was not even present to speak her mind and stand up for herself.

This was wrong. Seneca had no right to discuss about her and plead for _her_ career so publicly. She wanted to get a contract based on her own hard work and abilities, not on some publicity stunt and not because _he_ asked on her behalf.

 _"_ _I am probably the last person she wants to see but yes, yes, I do miss her, of course,"_ Seneca answered the question from one of the callers. _"When you've spent a lot of your time with someone, it is not easy to … I think about her every day. We are meant to be together – she and I – but I made mistakes, unforgiveable ones. I see that now. Given the opportunity, I do want to mend things with her. I'm realistic. I am quite aware that things between us will never get to where it was but being her friend – "_

"He's doing it again," Effie muttered angrily. "He's setting himself up for the audience's sympathy. Who will be cast in a bad light if I refused his hand of friendship? _Me._ This is all too familiar. He puts himself out there and if I spurn him away …."

 _"_ _I hope this finds here wherever she is. I hope that she is watching this and if she could come back here… She's got fans still, and if you're a fan of hers, let her know you have her in mind. Drop her messages on her Facebook or her Instagram or … or her Twitter, yes I think she has Twitter,"_ Seneca encouraged. _"Let's bring Effie Trinket home. Let's get that trending."_

"Let me know when you're resigning and packing," Haymitch growled.

Effie turned to see him walking out, letting the door slam loudly behind him. The bell jingled to signal he had actually left the store entirely. There was a lump stuck in her throat. On screen, Seneca was already waving to the audience as he exited the stage.

"You shouldn't play with him," Johanna crossed her arms. "If he's only your boy toy then you should have made it clear."

Effie ignored her. This was the second time today that Haymitch walked out on her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is Effie being ignorant about? What do you think of Seneca? Will there be a letter of resignation? Will she gets offers? Let me know what you're thinking, share your thoughts, leave a review :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

For almost three days now, Haymitch did not bother coming in to the store.

He had merely picked up some supplies at the train station in the morning after out on Effie and dropped that off at the back of the store before her shift started, and had driven off straight after.

There wasn't much that he had been up to except to drink and lounge on sofa or the floor, and unconsciously comparing himself to Crane. He wanted it to stop but his mind seemed to have a mind of its own – _that_ made him chuckle to himself.

There were text messages from Effie. Of course there was. That woman couldn't quite leave him alone. Updates on the store were intersected with queries on his well-being, questions on whether he would be coming in to the store, if he would like to meet her, or if they should talk.

 _Talk_.

What was there to talk about?

He had nothing to say to her, not when he didn't matter to her. Sure, to be fair, he had never asked her _that_ particular question but did he need to ask? It was obvious and he wasn't sure he liked being a second choice, _if_ he was even a choice, which was a problem on its own.

 _He_ didn't know what was going on.

Peeta would have told him to talk to her but the nature of that conversation was not something he had ever had before, not with her and certainly not with any other woman.

He could actually hear the boy in his mind. _"Adults_ talk _, Haymitch. You need to communicate."_

What was he supposed to say anyway? Tell her that he wanted her? Put himself out there when he couldn't even sort out what was going on with himself?

He was confused – perhaps, if he was being brutally honest, even afraid - of the intensity of his emotions, his anger towards her, and the implication of what it could all mean. If he truly didn't care, he _shouldn't_ be feeling this way. It made no sense to him.

He had been with a handful of women but never met someone quite like Effie. He enjoyed her company. She was interesting and had such energy and light around her that made his gloomy life a little brighter. Their banter and argument and occasional flirting kept him on his toes. She matched him for every retort and gibe, and having her around… Listening to her voice, smelling her perfume and feeling her passing by him…. It made him feel _alive._

Now, all of that might be gone.

She wouldn't stay, not when the truth was already out there. She had no reason to when Crane had already cleared her name. She would be welcomed home and it was that thought that bothered him.

He had been so fucking stupid to let his guards down, and he almost wanted to laugh at himself for what had happened. He deserved it for being so foolish and weak, and leaving himself bare to her.

He needed to protect himself and the best way to achieve that was to keep away from her. Distancing himself, he figured, would make her eventual departure easier to handle.

That was it.

He had always prided himself in being able to solve his way out of any problems and this was no different.

"So when Crane mention about her Instagram, I went searching for it. Turns out, I was right. She's got two. The one I'm following is a private account – nothing for her fans but _this_ is for the public," Johanna said.

He forced himself to pay attention to her.

Johanna was lounging on the sofa, her legs swinging over the armrest, her gaze focused intently on the phone in her hand. Peeta had sent her to check on him and if it meant a few hours off from work, she was more than willing.

"What's in that private account?" he asked.

"Photos of her family – her sister, her nephew," Johanna answered. "There are some from this Town, too. Your geese are in it. She's a got a photo of the sunset taken from the store – not bad, actually, but you tell that to her, you're dead. Photos of food, too. You want to see?"

He was curious but he figured it was better to stay away from that.

"The other account is for her fans, I think. It's made public. The last photo was of a train station … eight months ago. Timeline fits, that's right before she moved here. These fans are insane," she started chortling.

Johanna began to read the messages and Haymitch listened without saying a word.

" _You're gorgeous._ Okay, so that's one of the normal ones but listen to this -" Johanna read out even if he had made no sign to show he was interested. _"You're an amazing person and I love you so much._ Intense, right? How the fuck does that happen? I bet Effie doesn't even know this person exists. Alright, here's one that's disgusting- _You're really hot. I've got photos of you from your photo shoot. Helpful when I'm alone._ That ended with this smirking, smug emoji. _"_

Johanna started laughing. Haymitch clenched his jaws. The thought of some men with magazines of her in their room or photos of her in their phones made him want to smash something.

"She replied to any of that?"

"Nope," Johanna said and that put him at ease. "This guy's got some fantasy about going down on her," she chortled. "You want to hear?"

"No."

"You're pathetic, Haymitch," Johanna said off-handedly as she exited from Instagram.

As discreetly as she could, she snapped a photo of him lying on the sofa with a bottle clutched to his chest and sent it to Peeta through Snapchat. The caption read _'Babysitting duties.'_

"How long is this going to go on?"

"What?" Haymitch turned his head towards Johanna.

"Listen, old man, I thought you don't care about her. Okay, I'm not blind _or_ stupid. I know you've been sleeping with her but …. Isn't it just a good fuck?"

"I'm not having this conversation with you."

"I don't want to have some stupid heart to heart talk with you either," she scoffed, leaning back against the armrest. "Seriously, though. I don't see what's the problem. So what if her old boyfriend's back? We all know this wasn't gonna be the life for her. This is just something temporary right? She was supposed to come here for some stupid peace and tranquility and all that bullshit. She was always going to go back to the City, so quit moping around."

"I need a bookkeeper," he mumbled.

"Yeah, I've saying the same shit for months before Trinket even moved in here. You did nothing."

"It's different now. The shop's better."

The store, he mused, was beginning to feel like a metaphor for his life because his life was definitely better with her around.

"I'll find you a new bookkeeper," Johanna snapped. "We can get Finnick's girl, work something out. We can send all those receipts and stuffs to Four every month end for Annie. It'll work. We don't need Trinket just like she doesn't need us," she spat.

There was something underlying that and he wondered if Effie leaving was hurting Johanna in some ways, too. The girl would probably be too proud to admit it but Effie mothered her, the same way she did with Peeta.

"That's nice," he slurred. " _We."_

Johanna rolled her eyes. "I work there too, right?"

"Bet she doesn't feel that way," Haymitch chuckled bitterly.

"Can't blame her – the store's not her life. It's a passing thing. You're _really_ fucking pathetic."

He threw the bottle in her direction because he was well-aware and he _hated_ it. He felt as if he was about to lose something integral and important, and he had not made anything or _anyone_ that important in his life.

"She's got some offers... endorsement. I don't know what that means to get endorsement."

Haymitch's eyes flew open.

"Celebrity branding," Haymitch answered. "They want her... to promote their stuffs. She taking it?"

"No idea. She only told me she's got offers through her sister. So you see what I'm driving at? What's the point of this?" She gestured at him with a sneer. "I'm pretty fucking sure she _will_ go so quit this already. You think you drinking in the dark like this will get her attention?"

Johanna had a point. She was brash and rude, and she approached thing in a frighteningly logical manner at times. She reminded him of himself and if he wasn't so strung up, he would have seen the situation more clearly.

"We're going for a drive," he declared and tossed the keys to the truck her way.

"Great," Johanna exclaimed, her eyes lighted up in delight. "So I don't have to get back to the store, right? Not gonna say no to a day off – come on."

Haymitch slouched in the passenger seat, a hand hanging out of the window. The wind blew against his hair and his gaze strayed over to the dashboard where Effie had left her hair tie.

"Where the fuck are we going?" Johanna asked after driving aimlessly for fifteen minutes and having passed the Town Square twice.

"Keep driving. Take a right at the next junction," he instructed in a flat tone.

Johanna tossed him a look but did as he said. It wasn't long until she brought the truck to a stop.

"Five miles and we'll be on a highway to the City," Johanna noted with a frown when she recognised the street they were at.

He knew that already.

"Yeah," he shrugged, unconcerned.

"Start talking."

"Drive."

"Fuck no," Johanna scowled. "We're _not_ going to the city. You're drunk and you're not thinking straight. I'm driving back."

"I know what I'm doing."

"What's that?" Johanna crossed her arm, angling her body towards him.

"Crane's an asshole."

"So?"

"You heard her," he mumbled. "He's making this about himself. Shouldn't be that way."

Johanna laughed, loud and cruel.

"You're not playing a hero, Haymitch. So what if he's an asshole? Crane's not your problem. He doesn't know where she is but you're gonna bust open her secret if you go. Stupid plan," she muttered and turned the truck around.

"She wants her career back," Haymitch muttered with a hand on the steering wheel to prevent Johanna from driving off. "It's all she wants."

"I'm not following your half-baked plans at all, old man," she mocked.

"Crane's gotta to stay out of the way. When she goes back, he needs to have nothin' to do with it. The contracts she gets shouldn't have any catch to it and he shouldn't be involved."

"You know…" Johanna drawled. "I'd say it's noble but I recognize the selfishness behind that. You're _jealous_ and you want to make sure if you can't have her then he can't either."

He snorted because that sounded ridiculous.. "You on morphling again?"

"Fuck you, Haymitch," she spat.

He bit his tongue. That was low and it was wrong of him to bring that up but it was too late to take the words back now. Johanna was trying and she was doing well on the front. She had been clean for _months_.

There was no protest on his part when she drove back to Town and it was only when they were halfway back to his house that he apologized, in a manner of speaking.

"Buy you a drink," he offered.

"I get that she's gorgeous and hot, and nothing like this Town's got to offer. She's a novelty so think about it this way – novelty wears off all the time," Johanna advised which was a rare thing in itself. "If you want someone to fuck, come with me to the bar this Friday night, I'll hook you up."

She didn't get it, Haymitch thought to himself. It was not just about having someone in his bed. It had not been about that for him for quite a while now but it was not something he realized until recently.

"I can pick a woman on my own just fine," he waved her off.

She laughed. "We'll see."

XxX

At the risk of Peeta coming around to straighten him up, Haymitch went back to the store on the fourth day. Johanna said nothing about the things that transpired the day before and that was what he liked about her. She knew to let sleeping dogs lie.

He was by the cash register ringing up a customer when Effie walked in and she stopped short at the sight of him.

"Do you need me to take over?" she asked.

He shrugged and stood up to make way for her.

"I kept all the receipts there," he gestured at a few pieces of papers under stapler he had used as a paper weight. "You're going to need it for the books, yeah?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Haymitch maintained his civility and kept his distance. He had no claim over her and the way he acted was uncalled for. He could see that now that he had calmed down.

Effie no longer did the closing at his order because he didn't think he could stand being in the store alone with her without him pinning her against the wall to touch and kiss, to hear her sigh and beg and moan his name. He stopped driving her home from the store and she no longer accompanied him on deliveries.

They kept their conversation to a bare minimum, a shocking feat for Effie because he was aware just how much she _loved_ talking. When he accidentally brushed his hand against her, he was quick to pull his it away as if it burnt him.

He didn't talk about Crane or the interview or the offers Johanna had told him about and for almost two weeks, they managed some sort of peace between them but he was always waiting for a shoe to drop.

And it did.

She came knocking on his door in the early morning. Disheveled and sleep deprived, Haymitch opened the door to the sight of her in a blue dress with a brown belt tied around her waist. She was beautiful, he thought.

"May I come in?" she asked.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, not even bothering to stifle a yawn and stepped back to let her through.

She stood at the hallway and that was when he noticed the letter clutched in her hand.

A weight settled over him and the dread bloomed in his heart. He knew what it was and he knew what it meant.

"When?"

Effie bit her lip as she handed him the letter. He didn't open to read it.

"Today will be my last day. I can – I know it is short notice and of course, I can compensate you for – "

"You think I care about that?"

"The accounts -" she started.

"I'll sort it out myself," he cut her off. "The kids know?"

"Yes, I told them the day before and I – "

"So I'm the last to know that you're leaving? Should have known," he snorted

"I'm going home," she said, "and you're being completely unfair."

Haymitch glared at her and shot back a retort, "Says the person who is _leaving_."

"You gave me the impression that you don't want me here," she argued. "You've been distant and aloof, you hardly talk to me unless it's necessary. You avoided my calls and you don't reply to any of my texts."

"I don't think that's the problem," Haymitch scoffed. "Don't use that as an excuse when I know damn well that you already have something better for you in the city."

Effie took a breath.

"Yes, you're right but I have not given any of the companies an answer because I was … I wanted to see if you… It doesn't matter now. I have decided to return home and have a feel of the situation there. I want to see what exactly they have to offer me before I make any commitments and – "

"Yeah, see, sweetheart, you're mistaking me for someone who cares. I'm not interested."

"Why are you acting this way, Haymitch?" she sighed after a while.

"What?" he challenged.

She studied him and he felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny and yet, he did not budge. He stared her down and she finally lost her patience.

"If there is something that you wish to say to me, say it," she snapped. "It is terribly childish to sulk around in this manner."

He crossed his arms and it must have been his defensive gesture that made her take a step closer to him.

"Haymitch?" she called out tentatively. "You should speak your mind while I'm still here. Don't bury it in your heart."

Her hand fluttered up to his cheek but he turned his face away slightly and she dropped her hand back to her sides.

He had a lot of things to say to her. He wanted to tell her to stay. He wanted to tell her that the store needed someone like her; that his accounts had never been this organized and meticulous until she came around and handled it; that he enjoyed doing deliveries with her on Fridays; that she had fed him better with her cooking than he ever did on his own. He wanted to tell her that the best part of his day was waking up to her hair in his face and the sound of her voice moaning his name before he went to sleep.

Yet, he didn't know how to tell her all that.

"I just need _something_ , _"_ she told him. "A sign..."

"You're fucking crazy," was what came out of his mouth.

The eyes hardened and she squared her shoulder, plastering a smile on her face.

It was fake, all of it. Effie was smiling too hard and too wide, and it was painful to watch her because he knew he had a hand in forcing her to act this way.

_She's leaving. It's not you. It's her._

"Well then," she said with as much false cheerfulness as she could muster, "I've seen all I need to see from you. I have all the answers I need to move forward."

He didn't know what it meant but he didn't stop her either when she turned towards the door. Just as he was contemplating if he should ask her to speak plainly, Effie hesitated by the door. She retraced her steps and when she was close enough to him, pressed a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Take care of yourself, Haymitch," she whispered.

Her gaze strayed towards the bottles on the table.

"Try not to drink too much," she offered a small smile and _that_ at least was real. "You'll kill yourself. I don't want to have to come back for your funeral."

"Don't worry, you don't have to come back for _anything_ ," he said snidely. "I'm good at staying alive."

Effie nodded.

"We can still stay in touch."

"Sure, that's why we have Facebook, yeah?" he scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

He hated the way she look at him – sad and dejected - because they both knew he was never active on it.

Please," she said. "Don't be a stranger."

"Would have been easier if you had remained as one from the very beginning," he muttered as he watched her run passed the geese pen and slowed down into a walk once she exited the front gates.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is he going to go after her? Is she going to leave thinking Haymitch never cared? What is going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts in the review :)
> 
> Anyway, there's a few chapters left for this! :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this yesterday but I spent nine hours straight watching Stranger Things and my eyes were too tired to proofread it one more time before posting.

 

**Chapter 16**

What was she looking for?

What was she hoping to achieve by dropping by his house?

 _Looking for a sign,_ she scoffed, angry at herself.

Her sister was wrong to ask her to visit him. She wished she hadn't taken that advice except she also knew that she could not leave without saying goodbye, not after the months that they had together.

Effie did not know why she thought _he_ would be able to convince her to stay. The thought irritated her, too, because that would denote that she wanted to be convinced to stay, that she wanted to have a reason to stay.

Perhaps, that wasn't so far from the truth.

She was torn.

For a week now, it felt as if she had spent it walking on the edge of a knife, her future uncertain. When the endorsement contracts came in, Effie was thrilled. Her _sister_ had been thrilled.

Effie had imagined seeing her face plastered on make-up products and being the ambassador for high end brands. She still wasn't _that_ old yet so she pictured herself walking down the walkway once more and yet….

It felt empty. It felt as if something was missing.

_Or someone._

The thought of Haymitch had held her back.

She made no decision and gave no one an answer to the contracts.

"What is taking so long?" her sister had queried. "I thought you would have jumped at these chances or … are you waiting for better offers? Is that what we are doing? Are we going to let them stew and fight for you?"

Eirene had always tried to manage her career which was a source of consternation between Effie's manager and her sister, and when they eventually tied the knot, much to Effie's surprise, it brought such relief for her.

"Marius needs an answer, darling," her sister had told her two days ago. "He wants you to come back to the City. We need to have a discussion on this."

"I need a few more days."

"I have no idea what is keeping you back but if it is Seneca you are worried about, Marius is meeting him tomorrow to handle the situation. You know how much my husband despised that man for what he did."

"I know," Effie had said.

Marius was there when Effie's career was only beginning to build. He was there when she rose to fame and became one of the top five highest paid models, so he took it as a personal insult when Victoria's Secret did not renew her contract and Seneca ruined her career.

"Oh, enough with this, Effie," her sister's voice had risen slightly. "Tell me the truth now. What is truly going on?"

There had been a pause as Effie considered what to tell her sister. In the end, she settled for, "If you were not married to him yet, would you leave Marius for something better?"

The silence at the end of the line was telling and Effie felt decidedly foolish.

"Is it him? That man you work for… Haymitch? Is he holding you back?"

"He is not, not really. My… My heart feels heavy to leave everything behind. I'm being silly, am I not?"

She had tried to laugh it off but of course, Eirene was not buying it.

"What has he got to say about the offers and of you coming home?"

That, at least, was a question she could easily answer.

"He doesn't know. Haymitch hasn't been talking to me since… since the interview. I have this feeling that he is distancing himself from me. He doesn't reply to any of my texts or answer my calls. I am worried of the kind of thoughts Seneca had impressed on him with that interview and I -"

"Men like to think that we are complicated creatures. They are just the same, Effie. It is human to be jealous and to feel threatened, and I am quite certain that that is what Haymitch is feeling. They never like it when another man enters the picture, just as we do not like when there is a potential threat with another woman," her sister laughed quietly. "We are all the same, at the very core of it. You need to _talk_ to him. If it is something good that you have with him, then it is worth taking the time to seek him out to talk."

"It is just a fling, Eirene. It is nothing serious," she had argued. "I shouldn't be feeling this way."

"Perhaps it was supposed to be just that but the heart wants what it wants."

"You are starting to sound like – "

"Our grandmother," her sister had interrupted with a laugh. "Don't change the subject now, Effie. If you want my advice, then it is for you to talk to him, and not over the phone! Meet him - you can always tell if a man wants you."

"Oh, he wants me. I just don't know if it's in the same way that I want him."

" _See_ him. If he loves you -"

She had choked on the word. Growing up, she had believed in love and all the fairy tales it had to offer but getting her heart broken had taught her a tremendous amount of things. It made her wary and guarded to let herself fall in love, and yet, ironically, all she wanted was to be loved. In retrospect, she supposed, that was why she wanted to be in the limelight again. Her fans, at least, would still love her.

She had never realized when she had given herself up this way to Haymitch but it had happened and now, she was at a cross road. If she could be greedy, she wanted both Haymitch _and_ those modeling contracts.

There had to be a way to get both. She could find a way to make it work.

On the street just outside of his house where Effie had all but fled earlier, she fumbled with her phone. She wanted to talk to her sister after what just happened.

Something in her chest was hurting, and each time she recalled what he had said to her, it felt as if a monster was trying to claw its way out from inside of her.

_You're fucking crazy._

It was an insult. Effie had taken it as that but now that she was away from him to be allowed to calm down and think, it had also sounded _defensive_. Only Haymitch could make it sound like both, except, why would he sound defensive when all she had asked was for him to speak his mind.

 _Oh,_ her eyes widened.

Could it be because of the same reason that _she_ was afraid of? She was frightened of taking the first step and having her heart broken again, and Haymitch…. He had been alone for so long that _this_ would have –

And hadn't he mentioned something about her being ignorant and missing what was in front of her?

She was so _stupid_.

Effie shoved the phone back in her purse.

Nearly nine months ago, she had left everything she knew in the City to leave her problems behind. _That_ certainly felt like she had _ran_ away but it was a word she was careful not to use and one that her therapist did not bring up either. Still, it was not something she cared to repeat.

 _Not this time,_ she vowed.

Effie turned on her heels and marched right back down the street towards the now, familiar rusty gates. She swung them open with a little too much force and ignoring the honking of the geese, she trudged on.

She had a purpose in mind and it showed in her strides.

She would be clear with him about her feelings. What would she have to lose? If he didn't reciprocate her sentiments, she would leave, in fact, the path forward would be clearer.

She would not have to face him and endure the embarrassment from his rejection but at least she could say that she tried. Sure, her heart would suffer but it would _still_ suffer if she were to leave without clearing the air and without _knowing_ if he felt the same.

They were not teenagers anymore. She could be mature and tell him that she harbour no hard feelings if he did not feel the same. The most important of all, Effie was determined to leave on a good note without any animosity between them. For what it was worth, she valued their working relationship _and_ their friendship above all else, and she would like for them to remain friends.

Effie knocked on the door and she did so repeatedly until she heard his heavy footsteps approaching. The door was pulled open violently and the irritation was clear on his features.

"I will have you know, Haymitch," she got the word in before he could, "that I will _not_ leave in this manner."

He blinked in surprise and she could see him trying to think of something to say. It was comical because he _always_ had something smart to say to her. She would have laughed at the situation if she herself wasn't a bundle of nerves.

Ill-mannered as it was, she bullied her way into his house, leaving him staring after her. She hung her coat, if only to buy time to calm herself, and moved further into his living room where she dropped her purse and while she was at that, righted the bottle rolling around on the table.

"Sure, sweetheart, make yourself at home," he rolled his eyes.

She tilted her head, studying him. She missed him. It would take her three steps, maybe four, to close the gap and hug him. For the past two weeks, she had been wondering how they managed to see each other on a daily basis and yet, feel so far apart.

"Forgot something?" he asked when the silence stretched.

It was not in her nature to let the silence lingered. She always had something to say after all.

He rubbed the back of his neck as his gaze flicked over to her. That was how she knew he was uncomfortable and that she returning and barging in like this had thrown him off slightly. He had no idea what to do or how to act in his _own_ house because of it.

She thought it was adorable.

Of course, if he ever knew that she entertained such thoughts, he would have killed her but it was the truth all the same. It was adorable to see him this way and it made her heart swell with the need to touch him and kiss him and hold him close.

Effie kissed him. She pressed her mouth to his insistently, balancing herself on her toes to be able to reach his height. She fisted the front of his shirt in her hands to ground herself to him.

For a long second, Haymitch didn't react and then his arm snaked around her waist and he stooped slightly so she wouldn't have to stand on tiptoes. Now that she was firmly grounded and he was responding, she kissed and bit on his bottom lip and pushed him until he hit the back of his sofa.

Her fingers made quick work of the buttons on his shirt. She wanted to feel him, his warm skin underneath her palm and she wanted his hands on every part of her.

When he tugged the hair on the back of her head, Effie drew back.

"Haymitch," she whined at the loss of his taste on her lips.

"What is this?" he demanded, his grey eyes were dark whether with lust or anger, she didn't really know. "One last fuck before you go?"

That surprised her. She had not thought that he would take it that way.

"No," she denied, shaking her head. "No, I – That's not what…"

""We don't need to have some goodbye fuck," he snapped in a low growl and then his gaze softened. Haymitch stepped out of her embrace and moved away. "You want to go, then just… Just go. Don't make this harder than it is."

There it was. She could latch on that. He had just given her something that she was looking for earlier.

"Why would it be hard if this mean nothing to you?" she asked.

That question had the desired effect to make him stop dead in his track. He turned around abruptly and rounded on her in two large strides, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Mean nothing to me or to _you?"_

This was it, she swallowed. If he wanted to tell him the truth, this was the opening she was looking for.

Effie jutted her chin stubbornly.

"The problem with us, Haymitch, is that we don't talk and my mistake was in letting you think that I wanted this to not mean anything. That was what I wanted in the beginning, yes, when I wasn't ready for – things changed, Haymitch. My feelings for you changed and for a while now, _this_ , whatever it is that this going on between us now, has been one of the things that make me happy. It is not just _nothing_ to me. What I feel for you, it makes me want to … Do you think I would let just _any_ man drive me in their old truck that is quite frankly, falling apart and is therefore, unsafe? No – I've never agreed to get into that truck when it was Johanna or Peeta driving. I _trust_ you to keep me safe."

"You're fucking crazy," he muttered under his breath.

"Stop saying that!" she snapped.

"Then why are you leaving?" he demanded. "You had to make a choice – me or your career – and you chose that."

"I came here this morning looking for _something,_ you daft man. You led me to believe that … It takes two to clap, you know. If you feel nothing for me, it would be extremely foolish for me to stay."

"Looking for something…" he scoffed. "What were you expecting? Flowers and some candlelight dinner? Get a fucking grip, Effie."

Of course, that was not what she had expected. It was not Haymitch to be romantic.

"See," she said shrilly. "You're doing it again. You're insulting me and mocking my feelings. I just want the truth. I just want us to be honest with each other and be on the same page."

She stopped talking because somehow, without her realizing, he had breached her personal space. He gripped her arm and pulled her forward so that she was pressed flushed against him.

"So what are you saying now?" he asked, brushing her hair away from her eyes.

"If you take me to bed, I'll show you what you mean to me," she whispered, "and it won't be for just – what was it you said? - one last… fuck."

It was the vulgarity coming out from her that made him shiver and his eyes darkened with lust as he hauled her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

They were kissing again as he made the walk to his bedroom. He undressed her on the way. Her blouse and bra was flung over his shoulders, and by the time he threw her on his bed and crawled on top of her, she was half naked.

Her breasts heaved with each ragged breath she took. He pressed down on her for a long, messy kiss, careful not to let his weight crush her. She cursed the fact that he was still clothed. She wanted to feel him naked, his skin against hers.

The sex was different this time. They took their time, touching and kissing, and pleasuring each other, taking pride in making the other lose control.

When he rolled over to let her be on top this time, Effie kept her eyes on him as she rode him. His eyes were closed with his head thrown back slightly, he was panting and moaning, and with her palm on his chest, she could feel the pounding of his heart and it made her smile, to know that she was the cause of this.

"So close, sweetheart," he moaned.

She increased her pace, raising her hips and bringing it down, rocking and pounding against him. His face scrunched and she felt his hips jerked up suddenly to meet her thrust, and before she knew it, he had pulled her down against him.

"Don't stop," he growled, his hand cradling the back of her head.

She came in a shudder, encased safely in his arms and he did right after her, his face buried against the side of his neck.

She couldn't muster enough energy to move. She wasn't young enough to have let Haymitch make her orgasm for the third time that afternoon without feeling completely exhausted.

Outside, the sun had set which meant they had been at this for a few hours now.

"We should argue more often," he chuckled.

She remained that way with her on top of him, his arms around her and her head pillowed against his chest until he gently pushed her off him.

She should clean up, she mused, but her bones were heavy and his seed was already starting to dry against her thigh. She was allowed one time to be lazy.

"I told you how I feel but you've never said the same," she brought it up.

"I thought we've just shown each other that with the mind-blowing sex."

Effie raised her head, giving him a small smile before settling back against him. She drew mindless patterns on his stomach and watched the muscle contract before he took her hand and brought it up to his chest. It gave her a sense of pride because only she knew that he was slightly ticklish.

"It hasn't been just about fuckin' to me," he admitted when she thought that he was going to let the subject sleep. "I don't know what it is but I can't stand the thought of you leavin'. Before you came 'round, my life was alright. It was lonely, sure, but I've learnt to deal with it and having to learn to go back to that after you leave… I didn't want to."

"I can't leave with the thought of you hating me."

She felt him tensed up immediately.

"So you're still leaving?" his voice took on a flat tone.

They had made progress and she couldn't have him closing off again so Effie propped her chin on his chest to look at him. He ran his fingers through her hair and it gave her the impression that he couldn't actually stop touching her.

"Only for a while to work something out," Effie explained. "I won't make any decisions yet, now that I know that… you like me, too."

"Juvenile – we're too old for _'I like you and you like me'_ ," he mocked.

Effie hit his chest lightly. "Oh, you know what I mean!"

"You leavin' for a while… I don't know what that'll mean for us still," he scoffed.

_Us._

That sent a thrill running through her. Haymitch, on the other hand, thought she was cold so he draped the covers over them both.

"You can come with me," she tried. "We can make the trip together. Peeta and Johanna will be more than capable to hold the fort for a few days."

There was no forthcoming answer from him.

"They know you there, Effs. In the City, I mean. It'll be a mad house. There'll be cameras and media. They're going to want to do interviews when you return. They'll all want a piece of you and if I go, you'll be seen with me, you know that, right?"

"Why is that a problem? Let everyone know that I'm yours."

His turned his gaze on her so fast she was surprised his neck did not snap.

"I don't need everyone to know," he said gruffly and curled his fingers on the nape of her neck, putting enough pressure to let her know he was being serious but not enough to hurt. "I just need you to know that if you're mine, then no one else can have you."

She suspected that he might be referring to Seneca, but there was nothing for him to worry about. Seneca was a thing from her past. She was trying to pave a new future with Haymitch being a part of it.

"That is the whole point," she teased and pressed another kiss to his lips. "No one else," she promised with the newfound courage that he was hers, too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Things are looking good for them at least. They're on the same page, they have some sort of understanding of what the other feels. Good, right? What's going to happen next now? What do you think of how Effie came to realise and how she fixed it? Haymitch didn't go after her, but he didn't need to.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts :)
> 
> a/n: there likely won't be a chapter next week bc I'm going on a short vacation.


	17. Chapter 17

** Chapter 17 **

His truck was idling on the driveway with him inside. Once in a while, his gaze would drift to the rear view mirror to check if she was coming until her _'give me a minute, Haymitch!'_ became a minute too long for him.

Haymitch open the door, cursing under his breath when it jammed halfway through. He gave the door a little kick and it swung outward with a creak. His truck had served him well but even he had to admit that it was falling apart a little each day.

"Come on, Effie!" he shouted for her. "You said you were gonna pack a snack. What the fuck are you doing?"

"Will you stop shouting?" she poked her head out from the second floor window which was of course, nowhere near the kitchen.

He knew it. She was probably thinking of something else to pack into her fully stuffed luggage.

"The neighbours will hear you," she hissed.

He looked around. Effie wasn't wrong. Plutarch Heavensbee, who was watering his plant next door, was watching them curiously.

"Nothing to see here, Heavensbee," Haymitch snarled. "You're flooding your garden, just so you know."

Effie's neighbours were nosy even if Effie claimed that they were nice people. Haymitch had always felt that he was treated with a polite yet cold indifference by the people living on Capitol Street each time he came around to deliver their groceries. Not that he cared, of course, but ever since he and Effie had started sleeping together, the sight of his battered truck and him being there often, looking out of place on their street actually gave him some satisfaction.

"Are you done?" Haymitch turned his attention back to Effie.

"Have you seen my luggage?" she asked. "Did you – "

"I've already loaded it up on the truck. Get down here in five seconds or I'll change my mind 'bout going with you."

"There is no need to threaten me," she glared. "We both know you won't see through with it."

She pulled the window shut, effectively having the last word. It annoyed him each time she won an argument and yet, a part of him looked forward to the next verbal sparring.

It was another ten minutes before Haymitch finally drove out of Capitol Street.

They were at the edge of the town when he felt her hand casually resting on his thigh, her thumb moving in circles absentmindedly.

He covered her hand to still her movement. He was driving and the circling of her thumb was sending thrills up his groin. It was distracting.

"When I first met you, I never would have thought that _we_ will be taking a road trip," she mused, "to the City, no less!"

"If we're keepin' it honest, never pictured myself being in this situation at all," he said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Never pictured yourself having me?" she teased, angling her body to the side so that she was facing him.

"Having anybody," he admitted.

Her hand fluttered up to his shoulder. Her fingers brushed lightly against his earlobe only for it to curl around the ends of his hair.

"You'll always have me," she told him after a bout of silence.

He glanced in her direction.

"Don't make those sort of promises," he muttered.

"I made it because I intend to keep it."

Haymitch didn't argue with her on it. Traffic was light since they have yet to reach the highway out to the City so he slowed down his truck and with a free hand, tilted her head up so he could kiss her.

When he drew back to focus on the road, Effie was smiling brightly at him.

"This truck will be able to make the trip, won't it?" she asked worriedly.

"You're only _now_ thinking 'bout that? Shoulda' thought about it before we left."

"I assumed that if it cannot make it to the City, you wouldn't have agreed to drive me."

He shot her a look and rolled his eyes.

He was certain that they would reach the City because otherwise, it would be just his kind of luck to be stranded on a highway with her. He would _never_ hear the end of it.

In retrospect, he should have never listened to Johanna and Peeta. When he had agreed to accompany Effie and had told Johanna and Peeta that they would both be gone for a few days, they had immediately suggested a road trip; Peeta, because he thought it was a sweet thing to do which would allow them time to spend with each other while Johanna, because she thought it would annoy Haymitch greatly to be forced to spend hours in an enclosed space with her.

Truthfully, Haymitch didn't mind.

Effie, of course, thought that it was a marvellous idea.

"Truly, I cannot remember the last time I had a road trip," she had said. "I was always travelling by a private plane except of course for that one time when I came to this Town by train."

Two hours into the drive, the trees and woods faded off into the background and the ocean started to come into view. Effie rolled down the window and he could smell the salty air in the truck.

Haymitch stopped the truck at the cliff.

"Go on," he gestured.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Haymitch nodded and without a word, she alighted. "Careful."

The terrain was rough and her heel was not made to walk on such surface. Effie held out her hand and he grabbed it to hold her steady. Together, they stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean, watching the water crashing against the rock.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he agreed, "and dangerous."

"Sometimes, beautiful things are dangerous. Perhaps it is better that way," she said, pulling his arms around her midsection as she leaned back against his chest. "The danger preserves its beauty."

"No need to be so philosophical, sweetheart," he chuckled, "might hurt your brain."

"Oh, shush, you horrible man. Oh! Let me take a panoramic photo of this to show my family. They will be _so_ jealous," she said, pulling out her phone. "Do you see it, Haymitch?"

"What?"

"The background and the scenery will make for a nice place to have a photo shoot."

"Always the model," he teased.

Laughing, she said, "We should get back in the car if we want to arrive on schedule."

It was only him and her, and _he_ didn't care about her schedule. What would he care if they arrived at the City one hour later than they should? There were no meetings scheduled _yet_ but Effie was Effie, and he didn't want to have to deal with her having a fit.

With the stops they made at the gas station and the quick sex they had in the truck which left him smirking and Effie trying desperately to compose her appearance by fixing her hair and make-up, they did eventually reached the City.

"Thought the truck was going to give up right there and then with all that rocking," he chuckled, "but we made it."

"We are _not_ having sex in the truck anymore. We are not risking it. You are out of control."

"Whatever," he snorted. "You enjoyed it."

Nobody had expected Effie Trinket to return to the City in a red, beaten down truck which meant that entering the City was smooth and uneventful.

Haymitch alighted and stared up at the high-rise concrete and glass building. It was a high-end hotel which Haymitch had no hand in choosing. It was grand and obviously busy at all times of the year. Haymitch took everything in from where he was standing next to truck at the parking lot. In the distance, there were bellboys running around and cars driving into the premises for the valet to park it later.

"Let's go," she said quietly, slipping her hand in his, already in her huge sunglasses and hat to partially disguise her appearance.

They had decided to stay in a hotel. Effie's apartment was surrounded by other A-List celebrities. The presence of media around the area was unavoidable and they wanted to hold off the paparazzi for as long as possible. Marius, Effie's manager and brother in law, had assisted them by booking a room in this hotel under Haymitch's name.

"You want to lay low and yet, you got us a grand hotel," he muttered.

"Marius only wanted the best for us," Effie answered in defense, "and I wanted you to have a good experience in the City."

"I'd be okay in a motel, if you want the truth."

"I know," she sighed, "but – "

"Yeah, don't sweat it. It's you I'm concerned about. Eventually, people's gonna find out you're back."

"Not if you keep me locked in the hotel room," she grinned. "I can think of a few things I want to do with you."

Haymitch was more than happy to oblige. The drive over had left him tired and after going at it in the bathroom and the luxurious bed, Haymitch called it quits.

"I'm beat, sweetheart," he batted her hand away when it wondered to low under the sheets, "don't think I can get it up anymore."

"I'm disappointed," she teased only to laugh a second later when he glanced over at her worriedly.

She stretched over him to grab the in-room dining menu from the bedside table. With her head resting on his chest, Effie browsed through it and he let her handle the order. He never realised that he had drifted off to sleep until Effie shook him lightly.

"Food's here," she announced.

"Food on the bed?" he mocked. "Really, sweetheart, the bed's for sleeping."

"Oh, hush, we're allowed to relax the rules once in a while."

Haymitch propped himself against the headboard and Effie immediately scooted closer, leaning against his sides. It was nice, he mused, to have his arm around her while she occasionally fed him cheese sticks and tried to get him acquainted with the actors and actresses starring in the movie which was currently playing on television.

He could pretend they were on a vacation. He had never been anywhere with a woman before and certainly not with a woman he was deeply serious about.

For a little while, he could forget just that tomorrow or the day after, Effie would be making a decision that would somehow, one way or the other, have an impact on him.

He wanted to tell her that he meant it when he said he couldn't stand the thought of her leaving. He wanted to tell her that he needed her close, and he wasn't sure what to feel if her decision involved her residing in the City with frequent commute to his town.

Should it come down to that, he wondered, if he could truly deal with the fact that she would be able to spare him a visit when her schedule didn't keep her busy. She would get tired of it eventually or _he_ might get tired waiting for her.

He wanted all or nothing, and his selfishness was scaring him.

"Haymitch… Haymitch!"

"What?"

"Where did you go?"

"Nowhere, you talk a lot so I was just… tuning you out. Wasn't anythin' important anyway, right?"

"How rude," she pursed her lips. "Really, Haymitch, you looked deep in thought. Everything is alright, isn't it? Is it the food I ordered? Don't you like it? We can always order something – "

"No, sweetheart," he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Everything's okay."

Effie didn't look convince and he didn't want to burden her with the truth. Let his thoughts remain his own. There was no need to spoil the moment so he kissed her, his hands roaming every inch of her skin to distract her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this chapter was much, much longer and had a lot of things going on but I wanted to keep it simple with haymitch and effie enjoying each other's presence and doing some couple-y things and acting like they've been married for 20 years or something.
> 
> I had fun writing this chapter so, you know the drill, drop a review & share your thoughts with me! What sort of decision is Effie going to make?


	18. Chapter 18

** Chapter 18 **

"We are both invited for lunch. My sister is eager to meet you."

He paused with the fork to his mouth.

"Is she anything like you?"

It was not the same to talk to someone over the phone and to meet them so he figured, it was better to be mentally prepared.

Effie caught his gaze from the mirror reflection. As she fixed her earring, she said, "Eirene is more… serious, more grounded. She strives for perfection."

From his place on the bed with the plate of half eaten breakfast on his lap, Haymitch shot her a disbelieving look.

"More serious? And I thought you had a stick up your ass… You're tellin' me that she's worse?"

"Oh, don't be absurd. You will like her. You will find her tolerable. I might even go so far as to say that you might like my brother, too."

"You have a _brother_?" he asked, incredulous.

Effie turned the vanity stool around so she was looking at him.

"Did I not tell you about my nephew who introduced me to Snapchat? His father is my brother. Eirene is childless but do not bring that up, please."

Haymitch scrunched his nose. "What else don't I know about you, sweetheart?"

"You already know I'm a good lover," she grinned, relocating herself to sit at the edge of the bed.

What was supposed to be a simple kiss grew passionately heated and soon, his fingers were trying to unzip the dress with a hand shoved between her legs, stroking and teasing.

"We're going to be late," she remarked, slumped against his chest, "because you couldn't keep it in your pants."

"You shouldn't have kissed me," he smirked.

Haymitch had been through things during his service to the military that had given him nightmares and demons to deal with. He was certain that he could sit through lunch with Effie's family, for her sake, if nothing else.

He felt out of place which did not surprise him considering where Effie was from and where he came from but her family made an effort to include him in conversations and asked for his opinion on things they were discussing over lunch. When it came to gossips on people he had not heard of before, Haymitch wisely stayed out of it.

"Aunt Effie said you have a big store," her nephew asked. "Do you sell toys?"

"Not that big but nah, no toys," Haymitch answered. "Food, mostly – candies, chocolates, stuffs."

"Cool! May I visit one day?"

"Yeah, sure," Haymitch shrugged. "Don't think you'll like that place much."

"Haymitch," Marius called for his attention. "Let's leave the ladies to their gossips."

He shot Effie a look and she smiled at him encouragingly. He left the dining room to head towards the study with Effie's brother and her brother in law.

"How are you taking the City?" Exton asked, pouring him a glass of bourbon. "I hope Effie has taken you to see all the good places."

"Haven't been out much. City's alright," Haymitch grunted. "Too loud, too noisy and too many people."

"Yes," Exton nodded. "Effie told us you avoid the City as much as possible. Yet you came here with her."

"Came here for her."

"Why?" Marius studied him.

"Why what?" Haymitch started defensively. He hated being questioned. "She asked - I came. Something 'bout making decisions on her career."

"About that...," Marius leaned forward. "Any decisions she makes, she is taking you into consideration, yes?"

Haymitch lifted his gaze to Marcus who was watching him intently.

"That was what she said, yeah."

"How serious is this thing between you?" Marcus pressed. "A man has already destroyed her career once. I do not want another man to get in her way especially now when she is about to rise to fame once more. If you are intending to cash in on that I will advise you – "

"That's enough," Haymitch snapped. "What kind of man do you take me for? I ain't Crane. I ain't here to take her for a spin. It's not like that with her."

"You will have to excuse Marius," Exton laughed. "He was speaking to you as Effie's manager. Now, as her _brother_ , my sister had her heart broken once before. It drove her out of the City and … well, straight into your arms. She could have been emotionally unstable trying to cope with the dual loss of Seneca and her career, and if that was the case …"

"That's not it," Haymitch interrupted. He understood what Exton was driving at. He understood what he was trying to warn him. "She knows what she's gettin' into."

"A rebound relationship is never serious and should you come to the realisation that you are just that to her, you leaving might leave her broken again."

Haymitch did not bother telling either of them how Effie had avoided getting into a serious relationship with him or anyone else, or how she had initially been adamant about keeping the emotions aside when they started sleeping together. That it was _her_ who drew that line across them months ago. Haymitch did not tell them of the misunderstandings and the arguments they had before they came here.

He might not be sure of the decision she was going to make for her career but he was sure that she belonged to him, and likewise.

"She's stronger than what you gave her credit for. It wasn't a man leaving her that broke her, it was the loss of her goals and her dreams – the downfall of her _career_ ," Haymitch retorted. "She's tough. Effie's her own person. She knows what's good for her and what's not, and that includes the career options she came here to consider."

"There are plenty of options. She will be spoilt for it," Exton swirled his glass. "If it is truly as serious as you claim it to be, Effie will make it work. You are willing to compromise on that front, I hope."

"I'm here, ain't I? If I had it my way, we wouldn't have left town for this place. This is what she wants and I get that. What I want is her and if she ain't happy, there's no point to it."

Across from him, a look passed between Exton and Marius. He assumed the topic was put to rest when Exton refilled Haymitch's glass with an amicable smile stretching from his lips.

"I heard you have geese. You must know a thing or two about animal care. We have a beautiful horse – magnificent to behold. Come, Haymitch."

He supposed, pretending to be interested in Exton's horse would be better than discussing about Effie behind her back so he placed his glass back on the coaster and stood up.

XxX

It was the sound of a camera shutter going off that alerted him.

Instinctively, Haymitch shielded Effie from view and turned his back. With a hand on the small of her back, he nudged her forward. His intentions were to ignore the possibility that someone had taken a photo of them but having recognised her, someone was shouting her name.

Effie stopped and craned her head to take a look, a bright and dazzling smile already plastered on her face. She raised a hand in a wave and the camera went off again. The excitement rose and soon, a small crowd had gathered around them. Haymitch took a step back to let her have her moment, standing right under the alcove, the shadow of which partially hid him from view. Except, her fingers closed around his wrist and she smiled up at him.

The flashes were unrelenting and blinding.

She held fast to his hand only letting go when she had to sign autographs and posed for photos.

When she finally waved goodbye to the crowd and made her way to him, Effie clasped his hand in hers again. He felt uncomfortable at the whispers and fingers pointing in his direction but he recognised it for what it was. Effie was making a statement that she was his. Somewhere in the City, he assumed that Crane must be watching. It made him stand straighter in the crowd.

"Come on," he whispered in her ear. "This is turnin' into a spectacle."

Thankfully, the staffs in the art shop were professional because Haymitch wasn't sure he could take another scene of Effie being ogled at. They walked among the aisle, her arm looped around the crook of his elbow. She talked and laughed when he made a funny comment as they browsed for a gift to bring home for Peeta.

He was still acutely aware of people's phones directed at them.

"This is gonna be all over social media," he grumbled.

"It is unavoidable. We cannot hide in the hotel forever. I need to make an appearance at some point. It will get people talking. It will get companies interested."

"It's always a calculated move with you, isn't it?"

"You make me sound like a vixen but in all honesty, the entertainment industry is a game. You _must_ know how to play the game," she informed him. "Do not mind them so much, Haymitch. We just have to do things as we normally would."

"This ain't normal. I don't go shopping for gifts with you before and havin' people watching us to stare at you ain't normal."

"I know," she exhaled. "I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Nah," he pulled her close. "Better I'm here. I don't like the thought of some of these men staring at you without me being here."

"Have you ever considered," she tilted her head up with a teasing grin, "that some of the men and women out there are staring at you? Because they are. I noticed, and I don't blame them. You are handsome and desirable with your roguish, hard on the edge look."

"Someone knocked you over the head or somethin'?"

"Give yourself some credit, Haymitch," she said over her shoulder as she walked towards the cashier.

By that evening, Effie's arrival in the City had made it to the news and speculations on his identity were made. The possibility that he was one of her security members was dismissed outright because apparently, their behaviour was _'too cosy'._

They were already in bed with Haymitch reading Paulo Coelho and Effie scrolling through her phone. Johanna was sending texts to them both – which Haymitch ignored – at rapid speed. She had also taken to sending voice messages with quotes she thought was hilarious.

_'Effie Trinket's mysterious disappearance had a positive impact on her. Today, she was spotted shopping at the City Circle with a new beau hanging on her arm -_

"I resent being referred to that way and I don't fuckin' hang on your arm," Haymitch grumbled.

_"- glowing with happiness and very much in love. That's from Entertainment Weekly. Is it true, Effie, is it really fucking true that you are in love?"_

Johanna's cackle could be heard at the end of the voice message. Another came in and it was Peeta's voice this time.

_"Johanna is having a grand time with all these news but I hope you are both doing well in the City. Katniss says hello, by the way. She's here at the store, watching the news with us."_

"Katniss?" Haymitch frowned at Effie. "What? She's hanging out at my store now? My store ain't a place for lost kids."

"Oh, shush, Haymitch. There's nothing wrong with that. You know quite well that Katniss and Peeta are growing closer," Effie said, still distracted by her phone. "We should be supportive – Oh!"

"What now?"

"I made it to Vogue's Top Stories," Effie exclaimed, scrolling through her newsfeed. "There's an article from Elle Magazine, too. They... Well, apparently, they just threw together an article detailing my rise as a model from when I was a child."

"Let me see," he snatched the phone from her.

Haymitch started snickering. There were photos of her as a young blonde girl in different beauty pageants.

"How _cute,"_ he said, adopting a shrill, irritating voice. "How _adorable_."

"Do not mock me."

He returned the phone back to her.

"You remain very much a mystery to them."

"Good."

"Seneca's social media remains quite," she gave him the unnecessary report.

Haymitch shut his book and tossed it at the arm chair. He couldn't read with her talking next to him.

"We should leave before they start to pry too much into us," Haymitch suggested, watching for her reaction to that. "Your brother in law has already given you the folder with all the offers, yeah?"

"Yes. I was planning on going through it tonight. Now seems like a good time as any," she declared and threw the covers back to get the documents.

Haymitch grabbed her waist and pulled her back against him.

"Stay right here," he grunted. "Go through that tomorrow or when we're home."

He pretended that the shudder coming from her at hearing the word _'home'_ was the same reason it thrilled him to hear _'I'm yours'_ coming from her.

"I want to run it by you so that we can discuss it with Marius. We should – Haymitch! Stop it," she hit his wandering hands away and tried to wriggle free from his embrace. "Stop it this instance. I – You know I am ticklish."

She grabbed a pillow and hit his face with it.

"Fuck," he cursed.

"That'll teach you not to blow air on the back of my neck."

"You're no fun," he complained.

Effie smirked but that smugness was short lived. Haymitch was fast and soon, he had her hands pinned above her head.

"I don't want you naked," he stated out of the blue, murmuring against her skin as he peppered kisses on her neck and down to her chest.

Under her nightgown, his hand ghosted down her sides. His fleeting touches leaving goosebumps in its wake.

"You don't want me naked? That's an odd request. You've always wanted to get me out of my dress. Is this a kink I never knew about?" She teased. "Do you want to fuck me without taking my clothes off?"

The vulgarity coming from her would usually have turned him on but not that particular night. Haymitch drew back to gaze down at her with an intensity that made her pause.

"What's wrong?"

She touched the side of his face, her fingers grazing his cheek tentatively.

"In your contract, I don't want you havin' to do anythin' without clothes on. That's all I'm asking," he asserted. "Make that as one of the conditions before you sign anything. I don't want any other men to see you... that way. I don't want any one to see you the way that only I can. You're mine," he growled, "and seein' you naked should be _my_ privilege, and mine alone."

"You are being possessive," Effie raised her head to peck his lips. "It makes me want to have my way with you."

"Effie," he grabbed her hand before it could travel further south. "I'm serious."

She regarded him carefully.

"I told you I'm selfish. I guard what is mine and if you're gonna argue with me, you should know that I ain't gonna give in on this. Not on this."

"No one has wanted me quite the way you do," Effie wound her arms around his neck and kissed the tip of his nose. "I do not quite know how you find the balance to be stubborn, unyielding and dominating, and yet..."

His elbows were hurting from bearing his weight for too long so he manoeuvred them and reversed their position. Effie was sprawled on top of him, her chin propped on her folded hands on his chest.

"Yet?"

"Yet you compromised when you need to."

"I take and I give," he shrugged. "Do the same for me, sweetheart. _Please_. No naked photoshoots. I don't care if Crane didn't mind it but -"

"No," she placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "Don't do that. Don't start comparing yourself to him. Do not commit such disservice on yourself."

Pulling her up higher, Haymitch leaned forward to kiss her. She met him halfway and if he could do only one thing for the rest of his life, he wouldn't mind this. The slow lingering kisses were punctuated with playfully nipping and biting, and he was contented having her in his arms.

He felt like a teenager. He felt as if he was finally getting a shot of what he could have had with his girl all those years ago.

When Effie drew back to catch a breath, he brushed her hair back from her face.

"Kiss me again," he demanded.

"Don't be greedy," she laughed. "You have nothing to worry about. I just want you to know that."

"Worry about what?"

"About me doing nude photoshoots, of course. I was thinking... Well, this is one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about."

"You won't rest until you get it out of your chest anyway. Go on," he locked his fingers together behind her waist.

"I want to do commercial modelling. I have offers from several of them – Cover Girl, Dolce & Gabbana and Ralph Lauren," Effie ticked the list off her fingers. The names meant nothing to him so he did not react to it. "Chanel and Marc Jacobs want me to walk the catwalk for them."

"But?"

The sheepish smile from her confirmed that there he wasn't wrong. There was a _'but'_ to it.

"What I'm really interested in... Haymitch, I want to venture out of modelling."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill - tell me your thoughts in the review! Was Haymitch asking too much? What is Effie up to?


	19. Chapter 19

** Chapter 19  **

****

Her words rang in the room. Effie watched him, studying the frown that had begun to appear on his face. Haymitch propped himself on the headboard, looking at her quizzically.

 

"What do you mean you want to venture out of modelling? That's all you've wanted to do. Changed your mind?"

 

"This will not be completely different than modelling," Effie scooted closer to him. "It will just be a different role for me."

 

"You know I know shit about this, yeah? What's this role?"

 

There was a faint curve of her lips as she smiled at his impatience.

 

"Marius and I have been discussing about this. You know how I worry about things and I can't help but be worried about coming back and fighting to carve my name as one of the top models. It is not so easy to climb back to the top, Haymitch, especially at my age."

 

The scoff that came from him was quickly followed by the gentle tucking of her hair behind her ear.

 

"You're not old – still hot," he murmured, trailing his finger lazily down her spine.

 

"Age works differently in different industries," she told him. "Well, keeping that worry in mind, I realised that I need to do things differently. Marius agreed. Something new and fresh will perhaps be better for me. Walking down the catwalk and being the face of famous brands might be a thing of the past for me especially so when I am trying to compete with younger models. How long will I last in that position, Haymitch? Two years, maybe three if I'm stretching it. It's time that I spread my wings and try something new – something that has never been done before - to keep myself relevant."

 

"Whatever it is, you must have thought it through. I know you. You won't do things on a whim. If that's what you think is best...."

 

"It is," she insisted, "for both of us."

 

Haymitch lifted his gaze to her.

 

"What are you planning?"

 

"I want to produce a show."

 

Now that it was out there, Haymitch could only stare at her.

 

"Not completely different than modelling, huh?" Haymitch couldn't resist the dig. "What do you call this?"

 

Her amused laughter rippled through their hotel room.

 

"A reality TV show," Effie explained. "I've thought of a name for it even – _Panem's Next Top Model._ So you see, it is not far from modeling."

 

The smugness in her voice made Haymitch coil his fingers on the back of her neck to kiss her hard.

 

"Stop distracting me," she drew back. "Now, as I was saying, the show will have a panel of three judges. I will be one of the judges, clearly. As a former model with the necessary expertise, I qualify to be one."

 

"Hmm, naturally."

 

"It's a competition which means we're going to need a winner. Every week there will be an elimination round for the contestants until only one remains."

 

"What's the Victor gonna get?"

 

"Fame, for one," she grinned. "Modeling contract is a given, perhaps even hosting contracts or acting deals for the top five. The possibilities are endless. It is an opportunity for these women to dip their toes into this world. Marius and I are going to talk to the companies with offers for _me_ to try and negotiate a deal for sponsorship for the show and the winner. We already have a television network keen on our proposal. I have connections in that area with Caesar Flickerman."

 

"Sounds like a hell of a lot of work," Haymitch remarked carefully.

 

He was still unsure where _he_ fit in all of her plans or if she would have any time for them at all.

 

“It is but I will not be doing it on my own, of course. Marius and I will co-produce the show. We have also discussed this project with two of my friends, Cinna and Portia, and they have accepted their position as runway coach and stylist. At the moment, we will only be producing one season,” Effie said and he frowned.

 

“Seasons?”

 

“If the show proves to be a hit and the television network that I signed with orders for more, there will be further seasons. After production for each season ends, you and I will have our time together.”

 

“Right. And how long is each season? How long will it take for you to work on one?”

 

“Truthfully, I don’t imagine that it will take too long between getting things started and filming. An exception has to be made for the first season, of course, since it is new and there are a lot of administrative matters to take into account. I know what you are thinking, Haymitch, but once the season airs…. By that time, I will be home with you.”

 

Haymitch scratched his cheek, mulling over what had been said. He shifted under the covers.

 

“I – I don’t know what you will think of this but for convenience sake if nothing else…. We can turn my apartment into _our_ home, too,” Effie suggested tentatively. “It will be for when we’re both in the City. It will be ours.”

 

Since they started sleeping together, they had spent a lot of time at her house in Capitol Street. Haymitch didn’t think his house boasted much and always made it a point to drive them over to hers but they had never talked about moving in and living together.

 

“You think that’s a good idea?”

 

He wanted her. He was sure of that. Living together, whether back in his town or in her apartment in the City, would be just a step forward. He needed Effie to be sure, too.

 

“When I’m here – and I imagined that I will be here for a few weeks or a month or two, at most each year – and if you want to be here, too, it will not feel… It will not feel as if you are a mere guest. We will have someplace to always call a home, be it here in the City or your home in Twelve. It’s important to me that you do not feel that I am casting you aside. I want you,” she insisted, “just as much and you will make me so very happy and so very grateful, if you are here with me whenever I’m needed here.”

 

“So what you’re sayin’ is we’re gonna be doing a lot of travelling?”

 

“I will definitely be doing a lot of travelling back and forth. You are always welcomed, Haymitch. I want you with me,” she told him hopefully, leaning forward to kiss the corner of his mouth. “I will definitely have to be here for the filming since I will be one of the judges and then, we can leave for Twelve when that is done. Marius didn’t think it will be a problem. Marius is here which means at any one time, a show producer will always be present in the City. I can also still be contact through calls, emails or Skype.”

 

Haymitch grunted.

 

“I will totally understand if the idea of travelling up and down the City is unappealing to you but it is important that I be completely open with you on how things will work. Even if you choose not to be with me while I’m working here, you can be rest assured that I _will_ go home to you. We can make this work, Haymitch.”

 

“What about the store? You’re gonna be too busy to do any bookkeeping. You’re resigning, yeah?

 

“Katniss,” Effie bit her lip and gave him a sheepish grin. “She’s been at the store while we’re here because… Well, Peeta has been teaching her.”

 

“Ah,” he leaned his head against the headboard. “So you just do things behind my back?”

 

“No! No, that’s not it,” Effie said hurriedly. “I did not want you have to worry about your store. I’d like to think that I know you quite well by now and I know that you are trying to keep me from knowing but you have been thinking about my career choices and how it will affect us.”

 

“How can I not,” he muttered under his breath, running his hand up and down her thigh.

 

“I thought… I am trying to fix everything so that things will work out favourably for us both. Katniss needs the money more than I do. She will be able to do the bookkeeping and still hunt to sell us fresh meat for the store. With Johanna, Peeta and Katniss at the store, you only have to oversee it.”

 

The sceptical look Haymitch sent her way was lost on her. Effie was so sure and so confident that this would work and that they could _both_ see it through. He had never met anyone who had this much confidence in him and truthfully, it was inspiring and flattering.

 

Haymitch was doubtful of having Effie travelling back and forth but at the back of his mind, he knew this was a possibility from the moment that they drove out of town. It could have been worse. Effie could have wanted to stay in the City permanently, just as he thought she would when he found out from Johanna of the offers she had. She would have suggested visits from either one of them and he wouldn’t be happy with only her visits but this… What she had come up with, was infinitely better. Wherever they went, they would be together. There would be a home they could call their own in Twelve and in the City, and she would be there, a fixture in his life.

 

If Effie was certain, then he should try to share that confidence too. He had spent years alone and the loneliness was corroding him away like acid. He was not prepared to lose her because he was too stubborn. They had been on that road before and the agony when he tried to distance himself from her was not something he cared to repeat.

 

Besides, what was a few weeks in the City with her compared to losing her to this place? He could grant her a few weeks of his time here.

 

“I know you’re fuckin’ bossy but this takes the cake,” he grumbled, flopping down on the pillow. “It’s sexy seeing you take charge of my store, though. I admit that. Katniss is a good kid. If she’s willing to learn and Peeta’s willing to teach… Guess, she’ll do. She can take over your place.”

 

"Does this mean..."

 

"Being a judge means you ain't gonna get naked so…." he shrugged.

 

"Is that all you're concern about?"

 

"It's _one_ of those things,” he muttered. “I already said, I’m the only who can see you like this,” he turned his head slightly in her direction and fixed her with a stare. Haymitch pushed the nightgown off her shoulders and it pooled around her waist, revealing a pair of breasts which Haymitch had repeatedly told her was perfect.

 

“Tomorrow,” he said even as he trailed a finger down the valley of her breasts, “we’re gonna go see your apartment. I gotta make sure _I_ can live in it without cringin’ at every turn. If everything’s inside is pink with some fluffy feathered cushion, then you’re gonna have to change things around. Your turn to compromise.”

 

The delighted squeal coming from her could be heard three doors down, he was sure, and jumped on him. She planted a kiss on his mouth as she straddled him. He ran his fingers through her hair as he responded to her kiss and he let his hand roam the skin of her back.

 

“We’re still gonna be spendin’ a majority of the time of the year back in Twelve, yeah?” he asked when she drew back. “Cause I can deal with the City, sweetheart, but I can’t deal with it all year around.”

 

“Yes,” she nodded in assurance. “I love the City, Haymitch, but I also have fond memories of your old house on Twelve Street and mine in Capitol. That town is where it all started for us.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you see that coming? Effie producing a modeling show? I might have gotten a little inspiration from Tyra Banks' career progression. 
> 
> Tell me what you think of the chapter! Leave a review especially now that we're soooo close to the end.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This being the last chapter, I wanted it to be memorable for me so I’m posting it on my birthday to remember it by (bc I am sentimental like that)

** Chapter 20 **

****

Busy as they were in establishing Effie’s new career as a producer and a judge, neither of them really counted the weeks and the months that it took for Effie to shift from Capitol Street to Twelve or for Haymitch to learn to settle in her apartment at the City before they unconsciously fell into a pattern.

 

There were redecorating and furniture that had to be rearranged. Effie made concessions and changed her apartment to accommodate him, taking into account that there was a man now living in the apartment. The curtains on her windows remained but the colour became neutral, something which would not make Haymitch rolled his eyes in distaste.

 

She added photos of them on the display shelves of the apartment, including one of them in front of his store to add a sense of belonging and warmth to it. Neither of them realised that Haymitch had claimed an arm chair as his own and had a particular mug he would use each time he wanted coffee but it was those little things that made it felt like home. His toothbrush, shaver and shaving cream had a place next to her shower gel and skin lotions in the bathroom.

 

The first week back at her apartment, Effie insisted on shopping and at the end of the day, she hung his new clothes in her wardrobe.

 

Likewise, Effie moved her possessions in Capitol Street to his house in Twelve. They had cleaned the house of every dust and years of grime until she was satisfied. Haymitch hired a group of men to repaint the exterior walls of the house and inside too, and replaced his rusty fence with something more secure. The overgrown grasses were cut and trimmed, and Effie paid Rory to come every two weeks to keep it in perfect condition. His geese had sturdier pen which Haymitch begrudgingly relocated to the backyard so Effie could walk from the door to the gates without fearing for her life. That woman was dramatic but he wanted her and moving his geese to the back was a small price to pay.

 

Her house in Capitol Street was sold but Effie kept her blue bicycle which she set propped on Haymitch's front porch and rode it once in a while to the store.

 

"This looks more like a _proper_ house now," Effie had said with a satisfied smile as the house came within sight the moment his truck made the turn into Twelve Street.

 

When she alighted from the truck, she was quick to take a photo of the exterior of the house to send it to her sister.

 

His kitchen was in a better state. Johanna was the one to pack the groceries for delivery and when she realised that it was his house she was packing for, she laughed loudly in amusement.

 

"Don't destroy his kitchen, Trinket."

 

"I have not destroyed _any_ kitchen in my life and I will not start now," Effie claimed calmly, refusing to rise to Johanna's teasing.

 

 

Officially, Effie had already resigned from Abernathy’s Grocery the day they fought when she came to see him with the letter. Still, she assisted him in guiding Katniss with the accounts when the girl first started out. After all, it was her idea to get Katniss in. Unlike Effie, Katniss was impatient and grew frustrated when the accounts did not match but Peeta was always ready to help and his patience balanced hers out.

 

Haymitch learnt not to question Effie’s capabilities whens she proved that she could deal with the workload of producing a show and keeping his store running at the same time. Of course, she claimed that he had a team of excellent employees which made Johanna rolled her eyes that one time because _“you’re just kissing ass, Trinket.”_

 

“I was afraid that you’d drop your hobby now that you are busy doing the show but I’m glad that you didn’t,” Peeta shared his thoughts with her while they waited for Johanna to finish packing.

 

“I was worried that I wouldn’t have the time but I discovered that if it is something you truly enjoy doing, you will find time for it and I enjoy seeing Haymitch finish my food,” Effie admitted. “The rest of you, too, of course.”

 

“Sweetheart,” Haymitch called for her attention with a frown. He was reading Effie’s order sheet and watching Johanna going back and forth from the shelves to fill up their bag. “What’s all this for? We’re only home during the weekends. We don’t need a whole fucking carton of eggs.”

 

For the time being, their weekends was spent in Twelve while the rest of the weekdays in the City for Marius and Effie to work out the details of their show. Being something new, there was a lot of ground to cover which warranted the need for a longer time in the City. There were ideas to pitch to television networks even if Caesar Flickerman had shown an interest in it and advertisements to call for applicants. There were interviews to be conducted thereafter. Effie specifically wanted twenty four people to fit into the show’s timeline.

 

“Not sure if you noticed,” Haymitc mumbled into the pillow on the second night after they reached the City, “but we've been doing this for three months or so – three fuckin' months of drivin’ up and down. If all the alcohol over the years doesn’t kill me, this driving you from Twelve to here will."

 

Haymitch was tired. He could feel his bones aching but being tired and busy meant that he had little to no time to crave for a drink. If Effie noticed that he had not been drinking as much as he used to, she kept the comment to herself.

 

He was on his stomach with his cheek pressed against the pillow. His eyes were slowly drooping. He was trying to remain awake and wait up for her but Effie was _still_ going over some papers.

 

"I know," she hummed and kissed him fondly. "Go to sleep, Haymitch.”

 

“Nah. What you’ve got?”

 

“What do you think of her?"

 

He cracked his eyes open to look at the headshot she was holding up. He shrugged which was as much an opinion as it could get. He had seen plenty of headshots but to him, none of them could hold a candle to Effie.

 

Still, he liked that Effie made a conscious effort to involve him in her work. She had introduced him to Cinna and Portia whom he remembered from seeing her interview before in the store. Effie also talked to him about the applicants and the sponsorship she managed to seal the deal with.

 

"I'll be out early tomorrow for a meeting. What do you plan to do?"

 

"Sleep in," he answered without hesitation. "Don't wake me up unless it's an emergency and a shoe sale is _not_ a fuckin' emergency."

 

“There is no need for you to drive me next week. Stay in Twelve with the children,” she spoke softly, brushing his hair back. “I can rent a car.”

 

“Tried that, didn’t we? Didn’t work before, ain’t gonna work now.”

 

After the first month of constant commuting, Effie had suggested for Haymitch to remain in Twelve while she travelled to the City for the week so that there would be no need for them to make a trip home every weekend to check on his geese and his store. It had not lasted more than two weeks. Haymitch did not like the idea of her alone and he loathed having to sleep without her next to him now that he was used to having her around.

 

It was exhausting, sure, but he would take it than having to deal with the alternative of only listening to her voice or talking to her through video calls. It wasn't the same as having her around. Besides, truth be told, he enjoyed driving her around. There was something calming about being on the road alone with her and the drive would take them half the day at most if they did not make that many stop. It also gave him something to do and most importantly, it made him feel needed.

 

There were alternatives, of course. They could have taken a train or Exton’s private plane to cut down on the time they spent travelling but he hated the train. It was never peaceful with people stopping by their cabin to take a peek at Effie or asking - sometimes harassing - her for photos and autographs. He hated the plane because the drones of the plane's engine reminded him too much of his time in a military hovercraft.

 

When he woke up late in the afternoon the next day, Effie was long gone. There was a post-it note on the fridge informing him that he could heat up some food she had kept for him in a Tupperware and that she would be home late. He was used to this stretch of time with Effie gone and he didn’t mind it that much. Except, her nephew always knew when they were in the City, and right on time, just as the microwave ping to signal his food was heated up, his phone rang.

 

“Would you like to see a movie, Uncle Haymitch? The Force Awakens is out and we can -”

 

“No,” he answered. “Go bother your aunt.”

 

“She’s busy. Dad says she’s with Uncle Marius doing interviews and right after, they’ve got meetings.”

 

“Your _other_ aunt – Eirene’s always around, ain’t she?”

 

“Yes but she is… not as fun as you can be,” Emmanuel dropped his voice and Haymitch snorted in derision. He never had a kid tell him that he was fun to be around and clearly, Effie’s nephew was wired differently than the others. “Don’t tell her that. If you don’t want to go out for a movie, can I come over?”

 

The boy was an excellent chess player. They spent hours that afternoon playing chess until Exton had to call his son to remind the boy to come home. Haymitch put him in a cab and watched as it drove off.

 

On days when Effie’s nephew was busy with activities in school and couldn’t drop by even if he wanted to, Haymitch did not always spend his time in Effie’s apartment alone whenever she was out. He would take a walk in the park and sometimes, when he felt like it, sit on a bench to watch the ducklings waddle in the pond. He considered having some ducklings in Twelve purely just to see Effie’s reaction to it. It could work, he mused. He could dig a hole in the backyard for a makeshift pond.

 

People noticed him on the streets. He would get curious glances, some having seen him on television with Effie but unlike her, nobody approached him for which he was grateful.

 

He visited chain of supermarkets in the City just to see how business was run and surveyed the items they sold. Effie was right. There was an assortment of flavoured teas _and_ flavoured condoms. Once, he even purchased a few much to Effie’s amusement but she made sure it was worth his buy.

 

Once, he even hung around at the back of a supermarket to witness them discarding countless of expired items into the trash.

 

One of his favourite days of the week would always be Friday for the sole reason that Effie never work late on Fridays. By afternoon, they would be leaving the City for Twelve.

 

“Did I tell you… I love you,” she said in passing as she slid towards the driver seat to take over just as he moved towards her vacant seat.

 

“Yeah,” he grunted, keeping his hand on the steering wheel until she had proper control. “Eyes on the road, sweetheart.”

 

Effie was vocal with her feelings. She had no qualms telling him every day and on random moments just because she could and because she felt that _he_ needed to hear it often.

 

“Slow down,” Haymitch warned, “you’re gonna miss the exit.”

 

“We are taking the next exit,” she informed him and a knowing smile sprung on her lips at his questioning gaze. “I have a surprise in store.”

 

“Don’t like surprises,” Haymitch reminded her. Surprises made him feel as if he had no control over what was happening and he _hated_ feeling that way.

 

The exit Effie took led to a small settlement by the beach. His curiousity rose by the minute as she went deeper into town by taking the smaller roads. The silence in the car was broken by the sound of waves crashing against the rocks and there, at the end of the road was Finnick sporting a grin and a wave.

 

“We making a pit stop?” he asked. “Didn’t know this was scheduled….”

 

“Oh, I changed the schedule a little to plan this for you,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes. “Try to have some fun,” Effie reached over to give his hand a little squeeze before she alighted from the truck.

 

“Why?”

 

“Must there be a reason? Perhaps I just wanted to do something nice…” she sighed when he merely gave her a look. “For the past three months, you’ve been exhausting yourself for my benefit and I … Well, I just wanted to do _something_ for you. We can spend the weekend here to relax and recharge. In fact, I do not have to be back until Tuesday. We can have some time alone together – no store, no kids, no interviews, no meetings, nothing work related.”

 

“A superstar in my small little village,” Finnick greeted them with a beam.

 

“Oh, don’t say it like that, Finnick,” Effie laughed before stepping forward to give him a hug. “You only ever knew me as the store’s bookkeeper! Nothing’s changed.”

 

“Except you’re _not_ the bookkeeper anymore,” Finnick pointed out. “How are you taking the fame, Haymitch? Got any fans yet?”

 

Haymitch rolled his eyes at the teasing.

 

He had never enjoyed the limelight and he didn’t think he could ever be comfortable with it but he clearly needed to learn to live with it because it was not something that would go away anytime soon. It still made him ill at ease when even their time in Finnick’s town was reported. There were photos taken from unexpected paparazzi in that area that made it to the news and speculations on their relationship continued afresh with this _“romantic beach vacation”_ , though it wasn’t as intense as when Effie first returned.

 

Despite that, it was still nice to have the weekend to themselves.

 

They stayed in bed. They made love. They visited Finnick’s modest building to see the supplies of fresh seafood from the sea that made it to their own Town and into Haymitch’s store every month without fail. When the tide was low, they drove over to the other end of the beach to look at the sea cave just before they made their way back to the City for another week.

 

“Filming will begin this week,” Effie informed him. “According to the schedule, that should take about three weeks. I intend to see that it sticks to the schedule and not a day later!”

 

“Three weeks to find yourself a victor to parade around…” he snickered.

 

“Yes… Now, you just need to hold out for three weeks and then… Then we’ll go home. We won’t have to make trips to the City that often after filming concludes.”

 

"Three weeks and then you're all mine."

 

"Yes," she offered him a smile. “Of course, before the show airs, there will be the necessary interviews to promote the show. We can cover that all in a week, hopefully.”

 

When the show finally premiered, _Panem Next Top Model_ proved to be a hit. Viewership was more than Effie and Marius had expected. The first season had barely wrapped when Caesar’s television network ordered for a second season to be produced.

 

When Effie received the news, her scream sent Haymitch running from the backyard into the house, the feeding bucket still clutched in his hand.

 

“What the fuck happened?”

 

She threw herself at him, hugging him tightly and fiercely, and it took him a while to calm her down for Effie to share the news.

 

“They want a second season, Haymitch! Not only that, we might even have a contract for two more! We’re in this for the long haul. We did it, Haymitch.”

 

A proud smile tugged on the corner of his lips and Haymitch leaned forward to kiss her.

 

“Good job, sweetheart. Save me the trouble and tell me who is gonna win. There are five more episodes to go. I got better things to do than sit here every Friday night to watch this for forty minutes.”

 

Effie had blatantly refused to divulge to him or Johanna on who the winner would be and insisted that they watch the show. Haymitch didn’t watch it to find out who won. He could care less. He watched it for _her_ and he made sure to keep the snide remarks coming each time she made a comment or gave her opinion to the contestants in her capacity as a judge. It drove her up the wall.

 

When the last episode of the first season finally aired, a party was thrown in the City to celebrate the success of the show and to celebrate the crown winner whom Johanna had placed her bet on since episode four aired. Effie pulled him into a dance when she spotted him trying to escape to the balcony.

 

She guided his hand to her waist and wrapped her own around his neck. Haymitch responded by pulling her closer and smirked down at her. She was exceptionally beautiful and he didn’t care if everyone else was fawning over the winner of _Panem Next Top Model_. His eyes were only on Effie.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Nothing,” he shrugged.

“I know you’re thinking of something,” she insisted, running a finger down the back of his neck playfully.

 

“Doesn’t bother you that she’s gettin’ all the attention and you don’t?”

 

“No,” she said proudly. “Surprisingly, I am not bothered at all.”

 

“Why’s that?”

 

“I have _your_ attention. What more could I ask for? You taught me that fame isn’t everything,” Effie said, catching him by surprise. She had vowed one day that she would tell him and now seemed like a good time as any. “You have a good heart, Haymitch. You are so good to me and you make me so very happy. I could be there in front of all the cameras and have all the attention, but it would not be complete without you. I am not the naïve twenty year old woman anymore who wanted only to be loved by the masses. I have grown. I know what’s important and having someone who will support me and stand by me is something I should never and will never take for granted.”

 

“That’s quite a speech.”

 

“You’re all I need,” Effie reiterated as if he was missing her point. “Do I make you happy too, Haymitch?”

 

He searched her face, his eyes gazing into her own. In her soft gaze, he saw a deep sincerity and a desperate need to know that she was enough for him too, that against all odds, she could make him happy.

 

Haymitch clasped the hand on his chest and brought it up to his lips, placing a kiss on the inside of her wrist.

 

“You make me feel…” he licked his lips and swallowed, grappling with the right words.

 

He was never good at admitting his feelings.

 

“It’s alright, Haymitch. I shouldn’t have asked. I _know_. You prove it to me every day but I just wanted to hear it. It’s okay,” she kissed the corner of his mouth and twirled away in time with the music before returning to his embrace.

 

“…. whole,” he caught her and lowered her slowly into a dip to end the dance. “You’re more than what I dared to hope.”

 

Her eyes sparkled at his admission. She was looking at him as if he was _her_ whole world. Haymitch cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

 

“I love you,” she slipped her hand into his as they left the dance floor.

 

They ended up at the same balcony Haymitch had been trying to escape to earlier. The view was something. Lights twinkled as far as the eyes could see from buildings and vehicles on the roads. There were billboards on highway with photos of the three judges from _Panem Next Top Model_ with Effie in the middle and now that a winner had been crowned, he spotted a new billboard with Cashmere's face.

 

A ' _Congratulations, Cashmere!'_ stood out bright in the neon lights on the screen in the middle of the City centre.

 

"You might have started a cult following," Haymitch teased, nodding below the buildings with fans holding up posters of Cashmere and other participants from the show.

 

"I might have," she agreed, looping an arm around his to rest her head against his shoulder. "I am also ready to go home to something... quieter. We have six months before production starts again."

 

"Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but you're going to have to do some work for me for the store when we get back. No rest for the weary," he murmured and kissed her temple, a soothing gesture for what he was about to tell her next. "Peeta is leaving us, Effie. The boy is all grown up. He is... what do you call it? Adulting, yeah?" The words came out in a sneer but he was proud of the kid, all the same. "Saved enough cash for his own place to set up a bakery. He's found a shop to lease near the Town Square."

 

Effie straightened up in surprise, her blue eyes were bright against the night sky.

 

"How did I not know this? Peeta never mention anything to me. When... When was this? When did you know?"

 

"Couple of weeks ago," he shrugged.

 

"You didn't tell me."

 

"Didn't wanna distract you."

 

"Haymitch," Effie sighed. She brushed a thumb against his cheek. "Your store is mine, too. It matters to me and the children matters to me just as much. Please, do not go around thinking that way. Just tell me next time, no matter how busy I seem. I want you to share things with me. That's how _this_ work."

 

He chuckled.

 

“Yeah,” he gave a nod.

 

Sharing was not something he was used to but he was slowly accepting it. He was sharing his house with her and she was sharing her apartment with him but he also needed to learn that sharing went beyond just the physical aspect.

 

“We need to look for someone to replace Peeta before Jo goes ballistic crazy. She won’t – “

 

“What about Katniss?” Effie gasped, now only remembering. “Will she stay or will she leave with Peeta?”

 

“The boy hasn’t worked the nerve to ask her _yet_ so that one’s an uncertainty. If she leaves to go work with him, then we’ll have a problem.”

 

“I cannot imagine Johanna and Katniss minding the store on their own – just the two of them. It is a recipe for disaster,” Effie bit her lip worriedly. “Don’t get me wrong, Haymitch. They are both very capable young women but they – “

 

“I _know_. They never stop with the arguing which is why we gotta get someone to act as a buffer when I’m not around. Now that you’re free and you’ve gotten so _good_ at vetting and interviewing applicants…”

 

"Yes, anything,” Effie agreed readily. “Fair is fair – it is my turn to pull in my weight now. In fact, I know just the person!"

 

"Good," he smiled. "One other thing, Peeta might want your opinion on his bakery. The interior decoration and the signboards – stuff like that. Not my division."

 

"Does he? That’s excellent!” Effie clapped her hands together in excitement. “I am more than happy to help him. Oh, I just cannot wait to get home and take a look at his space myself!"

 

Effie had a lot of questions for him about Peeta and his bakery, and grew even more excited when she learnt from Haymitch that Peeta’s move to open a bakery had inspired Prim to work towards rebuilding her mother’s apothecary one day.

 

They spent the night awake, talking and for someone who often kept things to himself, Haymitch didn’t mind talking to Effie that much. She always had something to say but he did his fair share of talking, too.

 

Morning started out slow. Haymitch made breakfast while Effie watched. The affectionate smile seemed to be a permanent fixture on her face that morning.

 

“We are becoming quite domestic, are we not?”

 

He grunted. That question did not warrant a remark from him and she did not press for it when her phone started ringing and she left the kitchen to answer it. He thought nothing of it until she returned with an even wider grin.

 

“What?”

 

“Oh, nothing,” she waved her off.

 

“Not nothing,” he insisted. “I don’t buy that for a second. There’s _something_. Your eyes can’t lie.”

 

“You’ll know soon enough.”

 

“I hate surprises,” he grumbled.

 

“I am quite aware but you will like this one,” Effie told him with a knowing, teasing smile. “Are you ready?”

 

She grabbed her purse and made one last check around the apartment to ensure that the windows were locked, the taps in the bathroom had been properly turned off and the electricity shut before she closed the door behind her for Haymitch to lock

 

The glance he threw in her direction quickly morphed into a curious frown when he realised that she was putting in every effort she had to contain herself; the way she bit on her lower lip, the way she was gripping on to his arm and the bounce in her steps as they exited from the elevator towards the parking space.

 

Haymitch stopped in his tracks.

 

There was a designated parking spot for his truck. Haymitch had to pay a monthly fee just so he could park his truck in her apartment building which meant that _that_ was _his_ spot. Except that wasn’t his truck and he couldn’t find the familiar, beaten old machine anywhere.

 

“Where the fuck’s my truck?” he growled. “Who the hell took my spot?”

 

“Perhaps it had been towed away,” Effie suggested, “to make room for – “

 

“Get me a number,” he directed. “Someone I can talk to fix this problem. Why are you so calm, sweetheart? My truck’s fucking missing.”

 

“As I was saying, your truck was towed away so a brand new truck can take its place.”

 

“Towed to which work – What did you say?”

 

He did a double take. Haymitch stared at the red truck which its shiny coat of paint and polished silver rims.

 

“I love you driving me around, Haymitch,” Effie started to explain. “I love our road trips but I am consistently worried that your truck might die on us. Each time the engine stall, my heart stops for a second and my worst fear is your truck dying on us while we’re on a highway in the middle of nowhere!”

 

“So this is mine?”

 

Haymitch approached the truck and walked around it, inspecting the exterior before he peered inside to take a look through the window.

 

“Keys,” he held his hand out without even looking at her.

 

Effie handed it to him. He was about to slot it into a keyhole when he looked down on his hand and pressed the button instead. The locks popped and he chuckled, opening the driver’s door.

 

Haymitch adjusted the rear view mirror and that was when he noticed the small sign hanging from it.

 

It was terrible. It was the most horrendous thing he ever saw but he supposed, it was the sentiment behind it that mattered. He laughed either way.

 

“Funny, sweetheart,” he flicked a finger over the accessory and the goose with _Abernathy’s Grocery_ on its chest swung gently.

 

“You used to have the truck mainly for your store. I thought it was appropriate,” she defended herself as she got into the vehicle. “Do you like it?”

 

“The goose sign or the truck?”

 

“The truck, of course.”

 

Haymitch shrugged.

 

“Where’s my old one? You sell it off?”

 

“It is worthless to try and sell it off,” Effie informed him. “It’s at a workshop, just in case you wanted the spare parts, although why you would want it would be anyone’s guess but I thought, it was better to be safe than sorry.”

 

He nodded. Haymitch ran his hand across the dashboard and there was no missing the pleased half smile he was sporting.

 

“You do like it,” Effie remarked with a hint of pride.

 

“Course I do,” he mumbled.

 

Haymitch turned on the engine to hear the quiet, seamless sound. He turned his attention to the window. There was no window roller. Instead, there was a button. He pressed on it and the window wind down.

 

“There is no need for you to kick the door open now,” Effie told him. “Trust me, the door will not jam.”

 

He eyed her and just because he wanted to see the way she reacted to it, he said, “Have you seen anything so fucking sexy?”

 

He let his hand glide gently over the steering wheel. Her gaze tracked the movement of his hand and she narrowed her eyes.

 

“Do I have to compete with it for your attention?” she raised an eyebrow.

 

He snorted.

 

“Nah,” he tugged on her seat belt to fasten it, “because nothing can compete with you.”

 

“You are amazingly corny,” she laughed only to have him kissed it away. “Are you only this way when you get a gift?”

 

“You’re back to deliverin’ groceries with me every Friday for the next six months. Imagine that; a television show producer and judge, and a former _supermodel_ delivering groceries – ha,” he started laughing to himself.

 

“I am looking forward to it actually.”

 

Haymitch had never come clean about it but when he overheard Peeta talking to Johanna about a woman who had just moved into Town what seemed like a lifetime ago, he had been curious. What better way to find out for himself than to use the delivery as an excuse? So he had relieved Peeta from his Friday duties and drove the truck himself, and he had thought she was a bitch at first but it had been a long road and first impressions were supposed to remain just that.

 

He would never admit to her that he had gone out of his way to actually check her out himself that fateful Friday evening, but he was glad that he did.

 

“Sweetheart,” he called quietly but kept his eyes firmly on the road. “It’s a good thing you’re so fuckin’ snotty and wanted to complain ‘bout me...”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“The first day we met…”

 

She blinked. “I supposed it is,” she smirked. “We wouldn’t have such intense _chemistry_ otherwise.”

 

Haymitch reached across the seat to squeeze her knee.

 

_The end._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _______________
> 
> Initially, I wanted to make Panem Next Top Model a flop with Effie permanently staying in Twelve with Haymitch and learning to be content with what she has but that's a little cruel and my bby deserves to be happy with a career and a man in her life.
> 
> Anyway, that's it! I had a really, really great time with this AU. For those who constantly leave a review for me, thanks a million for it! Thanks also for reading and for your support.
> 
> On another note, I’ve mentioned this on my tumblr but I’m just saying it again now. I would not be writing anymore hayffie for a while. I’ve spent years in this fandom and I’ve had the best of time. I love hayffie with all my heart and forever will but lately, I have been feeling discouraged so I’ve going to hit pause. I might write a one-shot or something in the future when the fancy strikes. :)
> 
> Now, one last time for the road, please drop me a review to let me know your thoughts! Tell me if you like the ending, tell me your favourite moments from the fic or anything at all really.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think. If you like it and want to read more!


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